 By Pepper Parr
August 30, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON
Burlington slides to the end of the month of August wondering if we really had a summer and asking questions about the challenges some of our neighbours face.
For the more than 1000 households impacted by the flood the month of August was somewhere between “another damn flood” to horrific – that may have wiped some people out.
 Catherine Brady talks to a volunteer about providing tax receipts for those who choose to donate real paper money. It has taken the organized part of the community almost a month to prepare a response and to get a major fund raising drive underway along with the processes that will put aid in the hands of the people who desperately need it.
The community itself has raised just over $150,000 to date. The target has unofficially been set at $2 million.
The Burlington Community Foundation was asked to take on the task of putting together a community based Disaster Relief organization required by the province if there is to be any provincial funding added to what the community comes up with.
The Ontario Disaster Relief Assistance Program (ODRAP) allows the province to match what the city raises on a two for one basis. The funds dispersed by the Disaster Relief Community have to adhere to pretty strict provincial policies and procedures.
The Disaster Relief committee, chaired by Ron Foxcroft will have two components: fund raising and the dispersement of funds raised by the community and those funds provided by the province on a two-for-one basis.
The province has yet to say that they are actually going to give Burlington any money. They didn`t give Toronto any money when it had the huge flood nor did Mississauga get funding. The number of homes seriously damaged in Burlington is much higher than it was in those other communities.
The deciding factor for the province will be the need but most importantly – how well the community comes through for those who need the help. Premier Kathleen Wynne has been to Burlington a number of time and she personally asked Eleanor McMahon to stand as the Liberal candidate for the constituency – and of course she won. But that provincial cheque is not in the mail yet.
Former Burlington city manager Tim Dobbie will be handling the dispersement of funds part of the Disaster Committee. There will be a public Roll Out Event on Wednesday September 3rd at the Central Park Arena at 10:00 where details will be provided.
 Frank , a Rotarian steadies the stack of buckets that will be used at all the entrances to Spencer Smith Park during Rib Fest. This weekend at Ribfest, the Lakeshore Rotary Club will host the annual event that brings more than 175,000 people to Spencer Smith Park, where they take in concert events and chow down on those ribs.
This year the event involves all four Burlington Rotary clubs whose volunteers will be at the entrance gates and walking around the park with white plastic buckets that they want to see filled with loose change – preferably twoonies.
Enjoy the ribs, take in some of the music – just don’t leave the park with any loose change in your pocket. Those buckets will take paper money as well.
Link to related stories:
By Staff
August 29, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
We all know what Rib Fest is – we get ourselves to Spencer Smith Park where we have to look through a haze of smoke to see the lake. The crowds are usually very good, the eating tables tend to have places to sit down and chow down on those ribs – they ain’t bargain prices but that is not the purpose of the event.
 Last year Premier Kathleen Wynne tried her hand at flipping ribs. Her tutor on the right didn’t think the Premier should give up her day job. The event is the largest Ribfest in Ontario. That happens because the Lakeshore Rotary, that has just 65 members, manages to pull together 600 volunteers to make it happen.
The funds they raise support: Community Living Burlington; Compassion Society; Hamilton Food Share; Salvation Army; RCBL Scholarship Foundation; Athletic Scholarship Foundation; Kenyan Scholarship program; Joseph Brant Hospital; Sew-on-fire Ministries; Wheel Chair and Specialized footwear and Earth Day.
This year they have been asked to lend strong support to the Flood Disaster Relief Funds drive.
Mayor Goldring called Linda Davies, President of the Lakeshore Rotary Club, and asked her if she would help out with the need to raise funds. Davies immediately called the other three Rotary presidents in Burlington and by the end of that day they had pulled together a team and had their show on the road.
RibFest 2014 was going to be another super-duper event and at the same time it was going to become a “premiere” fund raising occasion for disaster relief.
You are going to see dozens of people wandering the grounds and at the gates, carrying plastic buckets and asking for a donation of at least a Twoonie.
With attendance at the 175,000 level – the flow from RibFest could add as much as $250,000 to the public fund raising drive.
During the Kick off lunch OnSite, an organization that does set up work on the grounds, put up a donation of $500 and said they were challenging two people to take part in an event that was a twist on the ALS dunking campaign.
Sometime during the weekend these gents will be dunked with – not cold water – but BBQ sauce. One of the two asked how much it would cost him to get out of taking part in the event. It is going to be a different RibFest this year.
The entertainment line-up is superb:
Friday August 29th
 Noon to 2:00 pm Mike Stevenson and Friends
2:30 to 4:30 The Kat Kings
5:00 to 7:00 pm The Groove Corporation
7:30 to 9:00 Elton Rohn; a tribute to Elton John
9:30 to 11 Simply Queen; a tribute to Queen.
Saturday August 30th
 11:30 to 1:00 Grindstone Blues Band
1:30 to 3:00 – Stinky and the Hotrods
3:30 to 5:00 Runaway Angel
5:30 to 7:00 Community Soul Project
7:30 to 9:00 Justin Time
9:30 to 11:00 Freedom Train
Sunday August 31st
11:30 to 12:30 Bare Blue Sea
1:00 to 2:00 No Sugar Tonight ; a tribute to the Guess Who
2:30 to 3:30 Tim Park and the Younger Guys
4:00 to 5:0 IN2U
5:30 to 7:00 The Soul Project
7:30 to 9:00 Images in Vogue
 9:30 to 11:00 The Spoons
Monday September 1st
1:0 to 2:30 Corey Lueck and the Smoke Wagon Blues
2:45 – Rib judging events
3:00 to 4:00 Desire; a tribute to U2
4:30 to 5:30 Scarecrow; a tribute to John Mellencamp
6:00 to 8:00 David Love Band
By Pepper Parr
August 29, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
There has been some movement – is it enough?
 Ron Foxcroft has been appointed chair of the Burlington Flood Disaster Relief Committee which will Roll Out its Action Plan September 3rd.
The public will hear how things are going to roll out on Wednesday, September 3, 2014 – 10:00 a.m. at the Central Arena Auditorium.
There have been meetings galore and the structure is in place – with lots of small details to get completed. The Flood Disaster Relief Committee was formed by the Burlington Community Foundation (BCF) at the request of Mayor Goldring.
Colleen Mulholland, president of the BCF, swung into action and began pulling together the team that will both drive the fund raising campaign and set up the process and procedures for distributing funds as well.
Foxcroft has business interests in both sports and trucking. Best known for inventing the internationally celebrated Fox 40 whistle – which is officially sanctioned by the NFL, CFL, NCAA and the NBA – Ron was a professional basketball official for three decades. Off the court, he’s also a legend among community supporters – recognized as the 1997 Hamilton Citizen of the Year, 2011 Burlington Entrepreneur of the Year and holds an Honorary Doctor of Law from McMaster University.
Foxcroft understands the plight of the people who were flooded in this city. His basement was flooded three years ago. On August 4th he was scrambling to make sure his pool didn’t overflow and flood him once again.
Foxcroft, who is the ultimate team player, says his first email at 5:00 am is from Mulholland and his last is from her at 11:00 pm. “This lady is a dynamite organizer and has a Rolodex worth dying for”, said Foxcroft
Foxcroft is off to New York for an National Basket Ball association meeting but will be back in town for the Tiger Cats game on Monday. Asked exactly where that game would be played – because it doesn’t look as if the spanking new stadium is going to be ready – Foxcroft said “the big LED signs that will be used during the game are in a Fluke truck – and the drivers of those trucks know where to drop them off.”
 We reminded Foxcroft that if Burlington had taken up the challenge to have a stadium built in Aldershot back in 2010 this problem wouldn’t exist. “True” said Fox, “but you know, we didn’t give Burlington all that much time. We met on boxing day and needed an answer by the end of February. Foxcroft who is the ultimate private sector guy was reminded that he bought Fluke Trucking in less time than that.
Watch Foxcroft create a superb fund raising team. “We’ve already got some major commitments, but we know that all we have is 60 days to get this done.
The total donated via the Burlington United Way fund raising site is now at $150,000.
Tim Dobbie, a former city manager of Burlington is going to head up the funds distribution side.
By Pepper Parr
August 27, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
The announcement was going to be made sometime on Wednesday – but it didn’t arrive so Burlington still doesn’t know who is going to be Chair of the local Disaster Relief Committee that is required by the province before funds can be made available to people who have suffered hugely from the August 4th rainfall.
 Mayor Rick Goldring does a television interview, wearing, for what is believed to be the first time his Chain of Office A couple of weeks ago Mayor Goldring asked the Burlington Community Foundation (BCF) if they would take on the task of creating the Disaster Relief committee. BCF president Collen Mulholland, whose home was flooded, took on a herculean task of pulling together a team and has been in meetings with the 22 agencies that are part of what makes the city work as well as liaising with the provincial government through the offices of Burlington’s MPP Eleanor McMahon to ensure that the province has the information it needs. It is Flamborough MPP, also Minister of Housing and Community services, Ted McMeekin, who signs off on the Burlington request to be designated a disaster area.
We believed the BCF wanted a big announcement with major donations from several of the philanthropists and corporations to beef up the donations to date, which are at the less than $150,000 level.
Perhaps the people the BCF has been talking to needed to have their photographs updated for the announcement.
 The scale of this map doesn’t allow us to show just how many dots there are – but each represents a home that was damaged in the August 4th flood. For those who have not been directly impacted – it is difficult to appreciate the scope of this disaster. The Region advised us earlier today that 2053 applications have been received for the $1000. Exgratia payment the city will give people who have had sewers back up into their homes. That amount to more than $2 million dollars the Region is going to pay out.
Could that money have not been spent on preventive measures instead of being given to people who are at the desperate stage?
We are advised that the announcement as to who the chair will be and what will exist in terms of sub-committees to get things moving will be made on Thursday. The flood took place 23 days ago. Since that time the Samaritan’s Purse has done basic repair to more than 50 homes in Burlington.
Why is it that some organizations can get things into gear and have them moving while others – well, what can one say?
 By Pepper Parr
August 27, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
Got a note from Joshua Miller, that’s the kid that delivers the Post to my dear three times a week.
The note Josh left me with the paper said: We wanted to let you know about a change in the Post distribution as of September 3rd. The Burlington Post will no longer have a Wednesday delivery, but will continue with a Thursday and Friday delivery.
Josh has had his time cut back by a third – the Post apparently is going to reduce their publishing schedule to just two days a week.
These decisions are always financial – the revenue just isn’t there to support three issues a week.
Odd – because when you go to lift that Thursday edition out of the mail box and catch the flyers before they fall out of your hands you might arrive at the conclusion that the Post is a very healthy business.
Burlington needs all the local media it can get and while the Post was limited in the coverage it gave many of the events and city Advisory Committees – it will now do even less.
The Burlington Gazette will continue to do the job it has been doing for more than three years. We publish seven days a week and everything we publish is on-line in the archive.
By Pepper Parr
August 27, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON
There is a strange dichotomy at this time in this city. There are those who were flooded and those who weren’t. Those who were are, in some cases, devastated while others live their day to day lives and hope that we will have a nice fall because summer appears to have forgotten us this year.
 Graphic of the rainfall pattern August 4th. On August 4th 190 mm of rain fell on a part of the city in 3-4 hours causing havoc and devastation for the more than 2,600 homes that were flooded.
On May 13th 75 of the same homes flooded when 60 mm fell in one hour. Most people had adequate insurance, however many did not. The majority of the homes affected were in the South East part of Burlington. About 1,000 homes flooded in Ward 5, perhaps more than 15% of the homes south of the QEW between Appleby and Burloak.
About 1200 homes between Walkers Line and Guelph Line in Ward 4 flooded, mostly due to sewage back up. The Mayor’s home is reported to have experienced 4 to 5 feet of sewage in his basement. There were hundreds of others in other wards. For homes that received overland flooding there appears to be zero insurance coverage.
In notes left on the Burlington Sewer Backup Victims Coalition web site, Ward 5 Councillor Paul Sharman explained that the sewage back up happened because all of the houses in the badly hit areas were built prior to 1974 when the building code changed.
Prior to 1974 it was normal to have gutter down spouts and weeping tiles plumber into the sewage system. After 1974 those were not plumber in. Without storm water in our sewage system the risk of flooding is minimized.
 Ward 5 Councillor Paul Sharman Sharman says he has personally spoken to “about 500 flooding victims. I still have perhaps another 700 or more to speak to in coming weeks.”
Some of those flooded on May 13 had their insurance cut off; they were left totally unprotected for the August 4th flood. Many have had their insurance coverage drastically reduced, while deductibles increased to as much as $5000. Most people want to understand why the flooding occurred to them and not others. Everyone is anxious about whether the next significant looking rainstorm will cause their home to flood again and about what they can do to protect their homes in future. Multiple flooding victims believe the value of their home is compromised.
Sharman wants to see the Region and the City and our home owners have to take steps to get the water out of our sewage system so that this terrible flooding does not happen again. He points out that on July 9th he successfully got Regional Council to undertake a region wide flooding study to assess the hydraulic design of our sewer systems that might help provide relief in future. The study is being accelerated for high risk areas of the city.
The Region is paying out a $1000 “Ex Gratia” grant to those who experienced sewer back up.
There is a subsidy of up to $2,725.00 or 50% of the cost, to install a backwater valve, a sump pump and disconnection of weeping tile and redirection of gutter down spouts.
Sharman has provided more information in his remarks on the Sewer NAME web site than any other member of Council including the Mayor and the Region.
At the Regional level there is a communications bureaucracy that consists of a Director, a manager, advisors and specialists. One would like to think that with that level of resources, which you the tax payer pony up every quarter when the tax bill is sent out.
The Red Cross have now knocked on the doors of 10,000 plus homes. 62 of which have been identified as high priority cases. Some may have to be demolished.
At an August 15th meeting between about 20 Ward 5 home owners and the Region Chief Administrative Officer (CAO), the Region`s Commissioner of Public Works and the Commissioner and Medical Officer of Health, home owners were advised that those who suffered multiple flooding and live in high risk flooding zones will receive free of charge implementation of backwater valves and sump pumps.
The Burlington Community Foundation (BCF) was asked by the Mayor to form the Burlington Flood Disaster Relief Committee which is now leading fundraising efforts. That organization expects to announce it’s chair today and then make public the Roll Out plans that will give people access to various forms of funding on September 3.
 The fund raising is coming along: The most recent number is $142,665.00 – which is a long, long way from the $2 million target that Councillor Sharman has mentioned
While raising funds is critical – what is more important is an understanding from those who were not flooded on just how devastating this has been for those who were flooded.
For them – it has been brutal
By Pepper Parr
August 26, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON
The flood has only begun as far as the flow of information is concerned.
A graphic from the Weather Network shows just how much rain fell on Burlington August 4th. We are still struggling with the impact of that raifall. The four Burlington Rotary Clubs are pulling together at RibFest this weekend collecting funds for the Disaster Relief program. This is a significant opportunity for the community to help out – we don’t have details yet on exactly what the Rotary Clubs are doing – they will hold a media event later today and tell us more.
Tomorrow – the name of the chair of the local Disaster Relief Committee will be announced along with the sub committees that will be set up.
On Wednesday of next week there will be a major Roll Out event at which all kinds of information will be made available.
The Burlington Community Foundation (BCF) has been managing this community effort and will have a Disaster Relief portal set up on their web site. It is expected to become THE source for information.
Ward 5 Councillor Paul Sharman, whose ward was heavily hit by the flooding, said that the community is going to have to raise $2 million – which if the city actually gets a 2 for 1 deal with the province, will result in $6 million available for distribution.
“We need more than the two million” said Sharman “but that is the target”. It isn’t clear if this is a Sharman target or a BCF target.
 What has been disturbing is the very poor flow of information from city hall. A lot of people over there are beavering away at stuff – but there is no flow of information to the public. The section of the city web site with Flood Relief information says:
The City of Burlington and Halton Region are committed to helping people as quickly as possible following the storm of August 4 that resulted in extensive flooding in many areas of the city.
The city is taking this matter very seriously and has additional staff in place to meet ongoing needs. Please check this web page frequently for what the city is doing to respond to the flood and the needs of people in Burlington.
They then refer people to the United Way web site but don’t give people the specific address to log in and send in donations.
When asked about the poor flow of information Councillor Sharman said: “I don’t know about that – that isn’t my job. My job is to take care of the people in my ward.
 A very large part of the reason for so little information is – wait for it – the Elections Act – which sets out when incumbents running for office can use city facilities to talk to the public.
Given the crisis Burlington faces – someone could just say – to hell with – I’m going to tell the people in my city what has been happening. Given that the Mayor isn’t running against anyone yet and isn’t likely to have a challenger – he could step out and talk to people.
Lackluster leadership.
 By Staff
August 25, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
INCITE A Single Moms Support Group, a local non-profit organization, will be closing its doors as of August 31, 2014, due to financial reasons.
 INCITE did great promotion for their events and turn out was usually quite high – the business model they had proved to be unsustainable. “As the Board of Directors, we are pleased to have provided support, encouragement, guidance, direction and opportunities for empowerment; to single moms and their children in our community, since April 2011.
Due to the passion, vision and direction of Executive Director, Beth Hudson, our organization has helped hundreds and truly made a difference in the Burlington community. For the last 3.5 years, INCITE has offered single moms a Weekly Support Meeting, Weekly Children’s Program, Social Outings, Philanthropy Events, Affordable Advice and a Good Samaritan Program.
We are proud that INCITE accomplished so much in such a short time, touching the lives of countless people. INCITE, with support from the community, through our Good Samaritan Program helped single moms-in-need through difficult times offering assistance with Christmas help, back-to-school supplies, furniture, food, toys, bikes and much more. Though many of our families were struggling, they gave back and helped others in the community through our Philanthropy Events; including volunteering at Wellington Square’s Community Dinners, the Rotary’s Ribfest and Amazing Bed Race, Salvation Army’s Christmas Toy Drive, as well as facilitated an “Extreme Makeover” on the Shifra House, a local shelter for young Moms.
INCITE A Single Moms Support Group quickly gained recognition across Canada and the United States, providing a rare and unique, but much needed support system, for single moms. Our popularity grew to over 11 000 visitors on our website annually and INCITE was showcased in the Toronto Star, Hamilton Spectator and Burlington Post, as well as on CHML and Cogeco TV. INCITE also produced The Single Mom Show, a web-based show that offered professional guidance from experts, for Single Moms everywhere, as well as produced An Agenda For Single Moms, a book specifically for Single Moms that focussed on taking stock and goal setting.
We were very blessed and are extremely grateful for the support we received from the community. Though there are many to recognize, we want to especially thank Verico Designer Mortgages, Astra Print, the Central Rotary, Halton Region, Rick Burgess, Jeff Lewis, and The Centre for Skills Development & Training, for their on-going support.
 There were cheques, some very healthy cheques – there just weren’t enough of them. Thank you also to our amazing team of Volunteers and Staff, present and past. All of you added something very unique and valuable to the organization, team and families. We all greatly appreciate your passion and contributions, that ultimately made INCITE the success that it was, touching and changing lives.
We want to thank all of the Single Moms that participated in the group, offering their support, feedback, wisdom and experiences; ultimately helping other single moms along their journey. It definitely has been an incredible and memorable experience for all involved.
Thank you to all of you for your support these last few years and for your understanding during this difficult time.
Beth Hudson, the Executive Director of the organization that the annual operating cost was “around $36,000” – that amounted to $3000 a month. Hudson added that when they were refused charitable status by the federal government – that was the “nail in the coffin”. We could see it coming and there was nothing we were able to do to keep the doors open and the program running.”
There is one event – a weekend retreat in October that will take place. As for Beth Hudson -she will begin to work on a web based – national organization to be known as “Answers for Woman”.
Hudson reports that one in five families are run by single Moms.
By Pepper Parr
August 25, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
It is coming together. It’s taking a little longer than many people had hoped but it looks as if they are going to do it right – right from the get go.
There will be a media release on Wednesday announcing who the chair is going to be along with additional information on just what the local Disaster Relief Committee can do and can’t do.
 Colleen Mulholland,BCF president, is stick handling the biggest project her organization has been asked to do. They are going to give her a T-shirt. On the following Wednesday, September 3, there will be a Roll Out event at a location in the east end where the full program will be explained along with the procedures people need to follow.
While the Burlington Community Foundation (BCF) has not yet announced a theme, based on the words BCF President Colleen Mulholland uses continually “Above and Beyond” just might be the call.
“This is a huge problem and there are hundreds of people who are hurting – hurting badly” explained Mulholland who is getting by on around four hours of sleep each night.
She is pumped over the size of the challenge and is stretching her team to the limit.
The BCF has encountered a number of desperate situations where they have had to dip into their own coffers to help out.
Their Annual Golf Tournament, being held September 4th, will be asking people to dig deep into those pockets.
A “portal” is being set up on the BCF web site that will have all the forms; all the details and answers to all the questions they think people will be asking.
That team leading this event are covering all the bases. There will be T-shirts for volunteers to wear; there will be coin boxes at every possible retail location. Great opportunity for the Burlington Downtown Business Association to show what they can do – and hopefully both malls are on board as well as all the supermarkets.
This stuff works – but you have to work to make I happen.
 Sandra Baker on the left talks with Burlington Community Foundation president Colleen Mulholland during days when things were not nearly as hectic. On Friday – donations sent via the United Way collection point were at $140,000 but come Monday morning there was just $141,600.00
More is needed – that Above and Beyond call to action is vital.
In the very near future major donations will begin to flow in – but this is a grass roots effort – this is community helping community. We too are Samaritans – or we can be if we choose to do be.
By Pepper Parr
August 24, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
Sometime soon – the Burlington Community Foundation will announce who the Chair of the local Disaster Relief Assistance Committee is going to be, and the flow of information for those unfortunate people who lost so much during the August 4th flood will begin.
It is going to be a complex process – governments just don’t hand out money willy- nilly.
The program, known as ODRAP, for Ontario Disaster Relief Assistance Program, is intended to assist those whose essential property has been extensively damaged as a result of a sudden, unexpected natural disaster such as a severe windstorm, tornado or flood.
The ODRAP program contains a private component and a public component. The public is used by the municipality to recover as much as they can of the cost of the flooding to the city. Burlington will be working with Halton Region on this.
 Each dot represent a home that was damaged in the August 4th flood. The data shown here was as of August 11th – there is more to show, The private component is intended for people who lost property and suffered significant damage to their homes. The first step in what will prove to be an exhausting process, was for the city to request that it be declared a disaster area. That happened on August 14th, when the city passed a resolution asking the Minister of Housing and Community Services to make that declaration.
That declaration has yet to be made by the Minister – but it is expected to happen in the very near future.
The program provides financial assistance within the declared disaster area, to restore private property to pre-disaster condition, when the cost of restoration exceeds the financial capacity of the affected individuals, municipality and community at large.
 While people worked at creating the administrative structure needed to get donations from the public and funds from the province into place – church groups were out on the street giving aid to clean up basements where needed. The Samaritan`s Purse expects to have partially restored close to 100 homes. ODRAP is not a substitute for adequate insurance coverage and does not provide full cost recovery.
The city enters into a legal agreement with the province, which calls for the city to (a) raise funds locally ($140,000 has been raised as of Friday, which the province “may” match on a two for one basis and (b) create the local Disaster Committee.
The province defines all areas damaged by the disaster, and whether all or a specified portion of the municipality is to be declared a disaster area.
When a disaster area is declared, a legal agreement is established between the Minister and affected municipality for accountability purposes.
The public component of ODRAP provides assistance to municipalities, when damage is so extensive that it exceeds the capacity of the affected municipality to manage. Burlington will be going after the province for the damage done to its infrastructure – the Region will be right in there with the city.
Municipalities within the declared disaster area may receive repayment/reimbursement of up to 100 per cent of eligible costs for uninsured municipal damage associated with a disaster.
The Private component of ODRAP requires individuals to bear the initial responsibility for their losses. If the losses are so extensive that individuals cannot cope on their own, the municipality and the community at large are expected to provide support.
The private component of ODRAP is intended to provide the “necessities of life” to help those impacted by a natural disaster get back on their feet, when it is beyond the capacity of the municipality or community to assist.
Local fund raising is what gets things rolling. To date people have donated $140,000. Once the local Disaster Relief Committee is fully operational, there will be a drive to pull in donations from people in a position to write big cheques as well as a major drive to the commercial/corporate sector.
The province may match funds up to a 2 to 1 ratio to settle the claims, up to 90 per cent of the estimated eligible amount.
Once the Disaster Relief Committee is set up, with the sub-committees it will require, one of their early tasks is going to be getting information out to the community and then receiving and settling the eligible claims of the victims as efficiently as possible.
The Disaster Relief committee members cannot be members of council and should have no conflict of interest in the collection and distribution of funds. The committee should avoid selecting members, who will likely be submitting claims for damages.
The disaster relief committee and its sub-committees, act autonomously from municipal council, operating within provincial guidelines to raise funds and settle claims. The committee ensures that all claims are dealt with fairly and equitably. Depending on the severity of the disaster, the disaster relief committee may operate for a period of several months or for up to one year or more, in order to receive and settle all claims.
 Seeing much of your house sitting at the curb waiting to be hauled to the dump, was very painful and expensive for hundreds of Burlington residents. The Region increased the collection days so that we didn`t see these piles of refuse on the streets for very long – which made it easy to forget how extensive the damage actually was. Members of the Disaster Relief Committee receive no remuneration. They can be reimbursed for expenses, however, such as travel to meetings.
Usually program administration, financial records and payments are made by a municipality upon the recommendation of the Disaster Relief Committee. The program administration costs of the Disaster Relief Committee are incremental to normal municipal administration activities, and are eligible for reimbursement from the Ministry. These costs could include:
A program manager to assist the disaster relief committee with day to day operations, fundraising and claim settlement;
An insurance adjuster to assist with reviewing claims;
Secretarial and other support staff fees, audit fees, stationary, printing, advertising and postage costs;
Rental of office space and furniture if necessary.
All administrative expenditures of the local disaster relief committee must be documented and kept separate from fundraising. No administrative costs are to be deducted by the disaster relief committee, from the locally raised funds. All donations must be channeled directly to the disaster relief committee to be matched with provincial funds up to 2:1 and used for claim settlement.
The responsibilities of the Disaster Relief Committee are as follows:
1. Appoint a chairperson and appropriate vice-chairs for sub-committees, where established;
2. Appoint a treasurer and a secretary, if one is required. The treasurer should not be a member of the committee but should be a municipal staff person or, depending on the scale of the emergency, a paid contract position;
3. Establish a disaster relief fund and bank account to receive donations;
4. Register as a charity with Revenue Canada to receive a charitable registration number, if not available through the municipality;
5. Solicit donations to the fund and organize fundraising activities;
6. Establish procedures for the receipt, appraisal, and settlement of claims for losses and damage;
7. Advise the municipality to issue advance payments in exceptional circumstances not exceeding 50 per cent of the estimated eligible payout;
8. Distribute claim forms;
9. Advertise the existence of the fund, availability of assistance, and terms on which assistance will be provided;
10. Appraise damage for claims less than $500 and, if necessary, hire professional adjuster(s) for claims greater than $500;
11. Approve payments in a consistent manner based on reports from the adjuster and/or program manager, and in accordance with ODRAP guidelines and the committee’s procedures;
12. Advise the municipality to make payments to claimants using the municipal financial system;
13. Hire auditors to review the activities of the fund and prepare an audit report; and
14. Submit an audited report to the regional Municipal Services Office for review and final payment of the provincial contribution.
ODRAP is not an alternative to adequate private insurance coverage and sound risk management practices. Claims from households and businesses should be directed first to insurance companies to determine the policy holder’s coverage.
 For homes that didn`t have, or could not get adequate insurance the ODRAP program might pay as much as 90% of the cost of replacing essentials. Burlington hasn’t dealt with a disaster of this magnitude before – there will be a learning curve and it will take a bit of time to get it all running smoothly. The names of some very competent people are being tossed around to head up the Disaster Relief Operation. Let us hope that those who can make things happen, step up and take on the task.
It would have been useful if city hall, the Mayor in particular, had kept up a steady flow of information during the period of time, when procedures are being put in place. The paucity of information from city hall was embarrassing – distressing as well. The public was told that City Talk – the city`s in house magazine that tells you what the city has done for you will be distributed to every home in the city.
By Pepper Parr
August 23, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
“We should have the door to door work wrapped up in a few days” said Peter Hodgson, lead Red Cross person on the task of learning just how many homes were damaged in the August 4th flood, and the extent of that damage.
 Peter Hodgson, lead Red Cross volunteer points to maps that show how many homes were damaged and where they are located. The volunteers will have covered in excess of 10,000 homes, explained Hodgson. Their data gets sent to the Region, where it is plotted on maps, which will allow the city to quantify the damage.
Mayor Goldring had explained at the city council meeting earlier in the month that “we need to know how extensive the damage is”. It is extensive and it is tragic.
For Hodgson the story is much more than numbers on a map. There are some truly tragic situations out there. “We were working with a man who had an extensive “collectibles” collection in his basement. “This was his retirement – and it was gone. The man valued it at more than $1 million.”
The dots indicate a house that was flooded. This was not a small disaster. There was an apartment building that had some affordable housing units in it. The owner of the building had moved a tenant with little in the way of personal means into a basement unit a few days before the flood so he could renovate the unit they lived in. All was lost.
There was an elderly couple who had suffered extensive damage to their house – all of which was more than they could cope with – but they didn’t want to leave their home.
Hodgson wasn’t able to say, but the sense is that there may be some homes that have to be torn down.
 Red Cross volunteers get training on what to do at eah house they call on. “We don’t talk about poverty in Burlington, but it is there” said Hodgson “and it is situations like this that bring these people to the surface – they have no resources to fall back on. The Red Cross is able to help out but just for a very short period of time.”
“We have people sleeping on air mattresses on the floor in some places” said Hodgson. “We opened up Evacuation Centres but they didn’t really get used – but we had them in place if needed.
The Red Cross has a Memorandum of Understanding in place with the Regional government- which allows them to move into a community on a couple of hours’ notice.
Their volunteers were on the streets within hours doing the door to door work. At the same time the Samaritan’s Purse had crews ripping carpet out of flooded basements and doing power washing, while the fire department put a calendar up on their website showing times, when fire fighters were available to help people with the clean-up.
While all this was going on, citizens were making donations to the disaster relief funds – the total on Friday was $140,000
By Pepper Parr
August 22, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
There is a squeeze coming.
For the past two weeks the United Way has served as the donation point for disaster relief fund raising. The United Way offered their services immediately, with a bit of a nudge from Burlington MPP Eleanor McMahon who was at one time a senior vice President with the national office of the United Way in Ottawa. McMahon knew what United Way had in terms of technology and the ability to handle a large number of donations in a short period of time.
So far the community had donated more than $130,000 to the Disaster Relief fund through the United Way.
 There might be fewer Friends of Freeman Station sold in the next while. However, come September the 11th – the United Way will be kicking of their 2014-15 campaign and they are concerned about some confusion being created in the minds of donours – is money being sent in going to the United Way campaign or to the Disaster relief program?
The sense seems to be that the Disaster Relief Committee will be setting up a funds collection point of their own.
Burlington will then be faced with a United Way Campaign; the Disaster Relief Campaign along with the Joseph Brant $60 million campaign for the building of the hospital additions.
Will the Joseph Brant Foundation suspend their drive for six months to allow the Disaster Relief people collect what they need?
The Friends of Freeman Station have a fund raising drive going on and the political parties are in the process of fattening up their coffers for the federal election in 2015.
Burlington is going to be stretched.
How does a city that everyone seems to love living in, and is the owner of the Best Mid-Sized City in Canada title, handle a situation like this?
Will we see some truly creative ideas coming out of one of the service clubs – maybe even from city council?
 Could the hospital fun raising drive be put on hold while funds for disaster relief are collected? Is there someone out there who has decided Burlington can do better than it is doing with the current Mayor and will mount a last minute campaign for the job and put forward an idea that captures the heart and mind of almost everyone and find himself/herself swept into office? If there is such a person – you’ve got until September to get your name on the ballot.
 By Pepper Parr
August 21, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
The small print needed a closer look.
On August 14, ten days after that disastrous flood that wreaked havoc on thousands of homes and left close to a hundred almost uninhabitable, the city council passed a motion requesting the province to declare Burlington a disaster area.
 Minister Ted McMeekin is no stranger to Burlington. He took part in the opening of the Community Garden a few years ago – a project funded by the province. City is now waiting for McMeekin to sign off on the papers that will make Burlington a disaster area. Many thought, as did this reporter, that being declared a disaster area was a mere formality. MPP and Minister of Housing and Community Services, Ted McMeekin, who is the member for Dundas, Ancaster, Flamborough and Westdale, just to the west of us certainly knows Burlington and understood the need has apparently not signed the document yet.
Why not Mr. Minister, do you need a pen?
 Burlington MPP Eleanor McMahon needs to prod Minister McMeekin to sign the papers making us a disaster area. Burlington has just elected a Liberal MPP for the first time in a very long time – what could go wrong? Well something appears to have gone a bit kaflooey – because it appears that the Minister has not yet put pen to paper and declared Burlington as disaster area.
McMeekin’ s press secretary said, when asked when the Minister is going to sign the document: “the Ministry is still assessing the damages and the Minister will make a decision soon.”
While the Minister fiddles Rome burns. The fire fighters are out there doing their thing; the Samaritan’s Purse people have restored more than 30 homes and have work orders for another 30. Steve Elliott, the point man for the Samaritans, said he expect his crews will have wrapped things up by Labour Day which is a short ten days away.
The city is working away on its application for funding to cover as much of the infrastructure damage as possible and the local Disaster Relief committee is working its way towards getting some oxygen into its system and taking on a life.
But nothing can happen until McMeekin signs the document saying we are in fact a disaster area.
The public is pumping funds into the bank account being maintained by the United Way on behalf the yet to be created local Disaster Relief Committee. An announcement is expected from that Committee very soon – however – other than collecting funds and setting up a committee structure to disperse whatever funds there are – there isn’t much they can do. Nothing becomes real or live until the Minister puts pen to paper.
We put in a call to Burlington’s newly minted MPP, Eleanor McMahon but she has yet to return our call.
Everyone is scrambling around – getting things organized – but no one is saying anything.
The suffering public out there needs to know what they can expect and what they cannot expect.
By Pepper Parr
August 21, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
It was the Samaritan’s that called Burlington to tell them about the service they had – and would the city like some help.
In less than 24 hours the Samaritan’s Purse was set up at the Christian Reformed Church on New Street with a dedicated telephone line installed and the word out to the media – “we are here to help – this is what we do.”
 And that they do. So far the Samaritans have cleaned up 30 homes and Steve Elliott, the man running the people in the field, said there are 30 more work orders waiting to be completed.
The work the Samaritan’s do does not cost the home owner a dime. “We get a call, we send someone out to do the assessment; if we can help we arrange for a crew to be on site as quickly as possible”, said Elliott.
 The power washer gets temperamental from time to time – Elliott shows a volunteer how to jiggle it to get it to work. There are about 80 volunteers – some are “die-hards” and there every day – others come when they can. “We had a group of women here for four hours; they all came from the same company and helped carry out bags of garbage and did what they could in the time they had available.
The Samaritan’s have a network of churches the work with. The local churches know the community – they know where the need is. They know who the single parents are; they know who the seniors that need help are – and those local churches are where people turn to when they need help.“Few people” said Steve Elliott “fully comprehend how big a role the faith based institutions play in their community.
The home the Samaritan’s were working on when we interviewed Elliott had mould that was getting into the ceiling. They had to do a lot of spraying to get that cleaned up.
The work crews assemble at the Christian Reformed Church, where they gather what they need in the way of equipment and are told where they will be working that day. The Chaplin holds a small prayer service and the teams are off to their assigned locations.
 Steve Elliott spends a lot of time on his cell phone – following up on problems and supervising several crews working in different parts of the city. Elliott roams between locations checking on the progress and doing assessments at other homes. He keeps in touch with the Red Cross, who are doing the city wide work to determine where the problems are.
Elliott, a man in his early 50’s perhaps, calls Peterborough home. He was an emergency planner for the province before he retired.
When the work at a house is done, the crew meets with the family to say goodbye and presents them with a Bible that has been signed by every member of the work team. There are going to be more than 100 families in Burlington, who will have an understanding of the story of the Good Samaritan they didn’t have before.
Luke 10: 25-37
By Pepper Parr
August 21, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
They have been a God send said Red Cross volunteer Peter Hodgson –and indeed the Samaritan’s Purse has been just that to many homes in Burlington. Work crews have gone into homes that needed work done and sucked up the water and torn out dry wall and have then gone back in and sprayed with mould inhibitor.
They have been the front line people, doing more for the citizens than either the region or city. Samaritan’s Purse Canada is a nondenominational evangelical Christian organization that has been providing spiritual and physical aid to hurting people around the world since 1970. They partner with local organizations (usually churches) to provide compassionate and cost-effective assistance to anyone who needs it, regardless of religion, race, gender or socio-economic standing.
 Water seeped into basements and mixed with backup from the sewage system destroying everything. For many homes the August flood was preceded by flooding in May – it is more than these people can take. Their emergency relief programs provide desperately needed assistance to victims of natural disaster, war, disease, and famine. They offer food, water, and temporary shelter, and meet critical needs and give people a chance to rebuild their lives.
Burlington seems to be getting more help from outside groups than they are getting from either the city or the Region. There are some homes that are a serious health issue and to the best of our knowledge the Medical Officer of Health, who is required by the province to oversee the health of the community hasn’t had anyone anywhere in Burlington.
Residents are fending for themselves or getting help from outside groups like the Red Cross and Samaritan`s purse and the fire fighters.
The public donations have been coming in – not anywhere near what is going to be needed. The tally as of Wednesday at 5:00 pm was $128,160.
Hodgson reports that more than 7100 homes have been checked out by the Red Cross Volunteers and that 2000 damaged homes were reported to the Region`s 311 number.
It is apparently still not possible to determine exactly how many homes have been damaged and the extent of the damage. However Hodgson did say that there were 40 to 50 homes that were in desperate shape.
The Red Cross has between 15 and 20 teams of people out on the street doing their door to door work and then plotting it all on maps. Hodgson`s task is to oversee the assessment of the damage and send that up the command chain; something Hodgson understands well from his years as a Halton Regional Police officer. He retired as a Staff Sargent – we erroneously reported Hodgson was a Superintendent. Hodgson said he would cheerfully take the pension of a Superintendent.
 Household effects are piled in corners – as far away from the flood waters as possible. Community groups are doing their own work as well. A collective has been formed in ward 5; they’ve named themselves the Burlington Sewer Backup Victims Coalition BSBVC. Their web site sets out who they are and what they have had to put up with. These people are not happy campers and have major beefs with the Region, who don’t seem to be paying any attention to their problems. And those problems are severe.
On August 4, some residents were still rebuilding after a back-up in May, some haven’t received insurance money from that flood.
Sewer back-ups they are aware of in homes have ranged from 1 inch to approximately 10 feet
Some residents have been experiencing these back-ups for years and despite multiple reports, the region and city have failed to show the political will to address known root causes and ignored the need to enact preventative measures .
“We are inviting first-timers, repeat victims or just concerned citizens to join us as we unite to force the City and Region to finally act. We shouldn’t have to fight this hard to do that but we still have plenty left to lose.” Maui Groff, Joanne Karaiskakis and Michelle Peronne-Bonavita all delegated at city council when the disaster area resolution was passed. That bit of legalese doesn`t seem to have done anything for the people in ward 5 who meet regularly to keep each other up to date. We will report on their meetings for you.
They are working with people in the White Pines, Bridlewood/Idlewood. Foxbar and Meadow Hill communities.
By Pepper Parr
April 19, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
We got our first look at what a No Vacancy event was about last year when Selina Jane Eckersall hosted an illustration event at the Waterfront Hotel. It was a little longer than the average movie but it came close to rocking the socks off the Burlington arts community.
 Selina Jane Eckersall points out a location that will be active the No Vacancy Night. Hundreds of people will be crawling through Village Square. It took place at a time when the arts and culture community was beginning to create a presence for itself. The city had accepted the Cultural Action Plan prepared by Jeremy Freiburger and while they weren’t able to act on very much of the plan they did re-allocate a staff member from Parks and Recreation to co-ordinate events that were cultural in nature. This kind of work was being done by the Parks and Recreation department where the culture was more athletic than artistic.
 The No Vacancy event was a critical success and is being repeated this year with a much bigger venue and a more exciting program. Selina Jane Eckersall sums it up with the comment: “We’re looking to give you the best Friday night you’ve ever had.”
There will be 30 unbelievably talented contemporary artists who will transform a variety of spaces inside Village Square into an art experience that will have a lasting impact. “This incredible walking contemporary multi-artist exhibition will feature the best of contemporary installation art from Southern Ontario.”
“Village Square will be buzzing with activity as people explore the alleys and walkways and enter spaces they haven’t explored before. We will also have performance and street art throughout the square and a pop-up art market that will be open until midnight. Burlington has never had an art event quite like this and it is going to be a wondrous experience.”
Half of Pine Street will be closed to traffic and all the space available to No Vacancy in Village Square has been allocated.
 Selina Jane Eckersall points to one of the locations for some of the “installation art” that will be on display for less than four hours September 19 – a not to be missed event. The artists doing the installations are being paid – a bit of a first for Burlington. In the past artists have been asked to donate to various causes – when they themselves are a cause. The beer garden profits will be used to pay the artists that are putting up the installations.
Eckersall is putting on a much bigger event this year and giving the Village Square some life – something it has needed for some time. The longer term plan for No Vacancy is to be quite ambitious. They have organized themselves as an Ontario Not for Profit Corporation and have gotten charitable status in Ontario and are going after federal charitable status.
Later in the year they will apply for Trillium Funding (that’s where a lot of your lottery money goes) so they can develop the much more robust program they have wanted to put in place for some time. “We want to open minds and push people out of their comfort zone just a bit and we feel that we need a bigger presence in the city, which is why we are looking for a place, where we can be seen and the work of the artists we want to highlight can also be seen.”
“We would like to find a building somewhere or work with someone who has space –visibility is key to what we are setting out to do. What we want to create is a facility that is part studio, part media lab and part gallery” said Eckersall. “One of the bigger challenges is to come up with a business model that can result in an operation that is sustainable – we are still working at that”, she added.
“We would really like to find a van we could use to transport some of the material involved. Installation art tends to be quite large.”
Eckersall says she has “no idea how many people are going to show up on September 19th – it could be anywhere between 500 and 5000.” The event will run from 7 pm to 2 am and as Eckersall says : “A night of incredible art installation in Burlington.”
All the space in Village Square have been allocated and the artists are busy working on the fun stuff. Administratively Eckersall is dealing with permits, contracts, and insurance.
There is going to be a “pop up” market. If there are artists out there that are looking for a venue to sell some stuff – touch base.
Eckersall says the event is all about “Art that makes your heart beat faster.”
By Pepper Parr
August 20, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
This is not going to be easy. The people who are going to have to manage the distribution of flood relief funds have a mammoth task on their hands and it is vital for them to ensure that what they do is totally transparent even though they are dealing with some very personal information about the people who have lost so much due to the flood.
The immediate good news is that the public fund raising is coming along. The amount donated as of 5:00 pm on Tuesday was $120,000. $10,000 of that came from CUPE Local 44.
The damage for hundreds of homes is extensive. The fear is that some families may not be able to recover from the flood. Local fund raising is vital. The Burlington United Way is serving as the main collection point – they will hold the funds and accept donations through their secure website. Once the Disaster Relief fund is established – and the province requires that this committee be created, they will set out the policies and procedures that will determine what is available for distribution and who gets funds.
There will be situations where the damage to a house was severe but the occupants were fully insured – would they get any funding? Take a neighbour two doors down who was also badly flooded and they also had insurance coverage but the deductible was very high – would they get funding. And then the household that had insurance but the insurance company decided there would be no payout – what would that household get.
Add to that the concern many people will have about the personal details of their finances being trotted out for the whole world to read about.
Colleen Mulholland, president of the Burlington Community Foundation, an organization that donated $15,000 to the Disaster Relief Fund, lives in a house that was badly flooded. Many will ask – isn’t there a conflict of interest here? Mulholland doesn’t see it that way. She is totally focused on pulling together the committees that will do their very best to help the people in Burlington take care of each other.
She is currently working at creating the various committees that will be needed to get the financial help out to people. At this point the thinking is to create three levels within the Disaster Relief committee; one will focus on the corporate sector seeking additional funding.
 It was a nicer evening and a better time for Colleen Mulholland when she posed with the BCF Masquerade Ball Honorary Chair Angelo Paletta For every dollar that is donated the province can match that on a two for one basis. While no one is certain yet as to exactly what the need is – the sense is that the community is going to have to come up with more than $1 million which would bring in $2 million from the province for a total of $3 million. Will that be enough?
A second committee will focus on working with the numerous agencies that are going to be involved in a task that Mulholland believes will become the legacy of the BCF. Not sure if this is the time to be talking about legacies but she makes a point. The Burlington Community Foundation is going to be the group that pulls this thing together so that the needs of the people that need help are met.
A third committee will focus on the “grass roots” which hopefully turns out to be people from those pockets in the community that were hit so very hard.
A concern that has been raised is the number of people involved – while it is vital that this be a community effort – with 22 different agencies at the table it could become the equivalent of trying to herd cats.
While working on a story with the Samaritan’s Purse we wanted to take a close look at the work they were doing helping people who need help. “Let me see how the house we are working at now feels about pictures being taken” said our contact. ”These people are feeling very emotional right now and their dignity has to be maintained.”
There is a delicate balance to be maintained and a mammoth task to complete.
The announcements from Mulholland as to the makeup of the committees should be available sometime this week.
 By Staff
August 19, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
The $100,000 mark for the Burlington Disaster Relief fund has been passed.
To be exact the number for Monday evening was $111,985,00
More is needed.
By the end of the week the Disaster Relief committee should have numbers from the Red Cross which will quantify the damage – they will know how many houses were damaged and the extent of that damage.
 By Staff
August 18, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
It was a chilly weekend that put a damper on the public events – but the people working at collecting funds for the Flood Relief program were out on the street as were the Red Cross Volunteers who are going door to door in those areas hard hit to determine the extent of the damage.
 Peter Hodgeson, a former Regional Police Superintendent is working with the Red Cross volunteers going door to door gathering information on the extent of the flood damage, talks with ward 2 Councillor Marianne Meed Ward who is doing what she can to keep the problem in the minds of the public. Those leading the response to the disaster are still working at determining the extent of the damage. In order to quantify the damage, information is needed and the city is not convinced that they know everything they need to know.
The concern in the minds of those who work with this kind of disaster is that the news cycle is now so short that the public will soon forget just how badly damaged many homes are and how hurt the families are as well.
“We need to continually tell the stories and keep them in people’s minds so that the public response will be equal to what is needed” said Pete Ward who has extensive experience with disaster relief around the world.
Later this week the names of the people who will sit on the Local Disaster Committee that has been formed will be made known. It is this group of people, currently being led by Colleen Mulholland, President and CEO of the Burlington Community Foundation, who will oversee the actual distribution of funds. She will be joined by others in the days ahead.
The Burlington United Way is continuing to serve as the “banker” for the Relief Fund; they are the primary point for cash donations.
There are dozens of small groups throughout the city holding events to raise funds. The Centro Market held a fund raiser on the weekend; Ward 2 Councillor Marianne Meed Ward was seen talking to anyone who would give her five seconds about the need for funds.
The need is great.
By Staff
August 15, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
Mayor Rick Goldring said the local Disaster Relief Fund had reached $100,000 – not there yet Your Worship.
The fund sits at $92,398 at the end of the first week.
We have a long way to go folks.
Some homes had two levels flooded – the Mayor’s home had eight feet of water. There is provincial money out there for us – but those provincial dollars are matched on a two for one basis – for every dollar we raise the province will add $2.
With those matching funds we would have just over a quarter of a million in the bank – but given that there are 1052 homes seriously damaged with most of them having limited insurance coverage – the need is great.
There are some homes in the south east part of the city where they either do not have or are not going to be able to get insurance because of the number of floods they have experienced.
There are clearly a number of serious problems with the way pipes are laid out in that part of the city – and getting the Region to actually do something looks as if it is going to be a marathon of protesting and demanding that they step up and do the job they are in place to do.
But this is not the time to bash the Region – this is the time to look at the private individuals and the large and small business operations in the city and ask them to pull out the cheque books – pause before they write in the total and figure out what they can handle – and they add a bit more.
The need for some is dire.
Try the math on this. Take those 1052 homes – and divide it into the $276,000 we would have to disburse given where we are with the amount that has been donated. It amounts to a measly $262 per household.
This isn’t good enough people. There are people hurting and they need your help. The downpour of rain was unique in many ways – the city has never had so much in such a short period of time – and the rain cloud seemed to hover over a part of the city. Streets blocks away didn’t get a drop.
We know that global warming has something to do with the changes in weather; we know that we are going to see more of this kind of thing – and we also know that the need is big – really big.
Burlington MPP Eleanor McMahon put it very well, when she addressed her remarks to the commercial community. “These are your customers, these are the people who make this city what it is – and today they need your help.”
Dig in and dig as deep as you can – please.
The Burlington United Way is serving as the banker for the Disaster Relief Fund. They are collecting the funds and will turn it over to the local Disaster Relief Committee as soon as it has been formed.
Make your on line donation – or drop by the Burlington United Way office at 3425 Harvester Road, Unit 107
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