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St. Paul’s Front Door Ministry received $18,200 at the May 2025 meeting.  This donation will support their program for close to a full year.  Mary McKenzie presented on behalf of St. Paul’s Church.  The other two charities selected to present at the May meeting were:  Norfolk Community Foundation, presented by Dennis Travale, sponsored by Natalie McConnell (member) and Rags to Riches Cat Rescue presented by Tammy DaPalma, nominated by Sheila Dertinger (member).

St. Paul’s Church is located in downtown Simcoe and supports the needs of the homeless, addicted and impoverished individuals in the community through their Front Door Ministry.  Depending on the need and the finances, The Front Door Ministry provides $25 grocery gift cards from Food Basics and food bags to those who knock on their door.  They monitor the distribution of the gift cards and attempt to give one food card per individual per month.  This donation of $18,200 will go a long way to fund the requirements for the Front Door Ministry for close to a year, helping to feed many.  The volunteers at the Ministry collects and distributes blankets, coats, hats, mitts and socks, provides information on other local services available and has developed a partnership with the Salvation Army. 

At the February 2025 meeting the successful recipient of $18,400 was HN Women’s Services – presented by Ashley Malo.  The other two charities selected to present were:  Waterford Skate Park, presented by Kerry Bockenholt, sponsored by Jill Chuli (member) and Church Out-Serving, presented by Shaena Rieckermann.

HN Women’s Services provides support services to women, children and youth in Norfolk County who have experienced gender-based violence.  They offer 24-hour crisis intervention, counselling, advocacy, and residential shelter services for victims who need a place of safety to stay away from their abusive situation. The Women’s Shelter is helping women rebuild their lives, heal from abuse, develop resiliency and move towards living violent-free lives.  This continues to be a challenge as resources are stretched to the limit and affordable, reliable & safe housing is difficult to find.

The money donated will go to paying down the mortgage on the “Little House” and will bring the organization closer to their goal of complete financial independence.  Through this donation and other fundraising efforts, they expect to pay off the mortgage by December 2025.

What is the “Little House”?  This was a project embarked upon in 2019 when the HNWS partnered with Habitat for Humanity and renovated a small home located on the HNWS property in Simcoe.  It offers a safe haven for a mother and her children which is close to the support and resources offered by the shelter.  The “Little House” is rented out at an affordable & equitable rate.

The successful recipient of $18,300 at the August 2024 100 Women Who Care Norfolk meeting was the Young Caregivers Association – presented by Alicia Blake (Member).  The other two charities selected to present were:  North Shore Highlanders, presented by Amber McKnight and Indwell, presented by Barb Gulabsingh.

The Young Caregivers operate programs at Hazel’s Place, Elgin Public School and various Norfolk parks during the summer months.  Young Caregivers support Children and youth ranging in age from 5 to 25.  These children/youth are caregivers to a family member who is suffering from a chronic illness, a physical disability or mental health concerns.  These young people help their family member with personal care, administering medication, assisting with mobility issues and beyond.  The Young Caregivers offers social & recreational programs, clinical services including group and individual counselling, summer camps, training in life skills, peer to peer support…..to name only a few.  These programs enable the young caregiver the opportunity to enjoy some time away from their responsibilities.

This donation will enable the Young Caregivers Association to expand their programs and offer them to a larger geographical area within Norfolk County and it will also provide for transportation to the offered programs if the family does not own a care, cannot afford the gas to travel to the programs or just aren’t able to travel easily.

The successful recipient, Norfolk Community Help Centre received $17,300 towards their Moms & Tots Program.  This was presented by Nancy Hildebrand, Executive Director, nominated by member Rudi Atkinson.  The other charities who presented were Trinity Anglican Church (nominated by Kathryn Duwyn, presented by Rick Duwyn) and Port Dover Senior Centre (nominated by Kim Palermo, presented by Sue Finnie).
The Norfolk Community Help Centre operates out of the Langton and services Low German Mennonites.  Their objective is to empower individuals to realize their full potential through programs and services to assist with settlement, employment and family support.  The Moms & Tots program offers women the opportunity to learn English, develop friendships, build a positive self-image and gain confidence to live, work and thrive in Canada.  They partner with the Grand Erie District School Board to provide an avenue for these women to pursue and obtain their OSSD.  To date, 66 women have graduated.  While the women attend these programs, childcare is offered to all participants.

The successful recipient of $17,500 at the November 2023 meeting was the Child Nutrition Network (R.E.A.C.H) presented by Diane Luke.  The other charities who were selected to present were Victim Services (Laura Maguire) and Boston School Parent Council Playground Initiative (Lorraine Skarratt).

The Child Nutrition Network was established in 1998 and partners with Haldimand Norfolk R.E.A.C.H, the Haldimand Norfolk Health Unit and community members.  CNN offers school-age children & youth nutritious food for breakfast, lunch and/or snack programs.  These programs are necessary as so many children arrive at school each day without having breakfast and without anything to eat for lunch.  Nutritious food is essential so the children can focus on learning.

During the 2023-24 school year, 26 Norfolk schools and more than 9,000 students will have access to nutritious food.  Typically the student nutrition program coordinator and volunteers plan the menu and purchase the food from preferred vendors.

GEDSB – Simcoe Composite School Music Program (presented by Melissa Mummery) was the successful recipient of $17,300 at the August 2023 meeting. Sheet music, royalties, and instrument maintenance costs the music program as much as $12,000 annually.  100 Women Who Care Norfolk’s donation of $17,300 will be spent on new musical instruments which will replace aging, donated instruments which are 20+ years old.  Instruments are costly:  a French horn can command $2100, a clarinet $600, a saxophone $1100 and a trombone $600.

Many of the students who attend the music program have no instrument experience and will either gravitate to the largest, loudest instruments while others will quietly blend in with the smaller quieter ones.    The students will find friendship, acceptance, and a place to belong while blossoming into budding musicians which will impact their lives forever.  The SCS Music Program has a Junior & Senior Band, a Jazz, Vocal and Teacher/Student Band in addition to the regular music classes.

The various bands perform throughout the county and province.  The bands can be found performing at the Norfolk Fair, Norfolk Musical Arts Festival and the Golden Horseshoe Music Festival in Ancaster.

Other charities who presented at the August meeting were the Norfolk Children’s Nutrition Network (Joan Good) and the HN Alzheimer’s Society (Diane Holmes).

At the May 2023 meeting, 100 Women Who Care Norfolk heard from 3 deserving charities, with the successful recipient being Who Did It Club (presented by Cathy Rusling).  The other charities who presented at the meeting were the Alzheimer’s Society (Diane Holmes) and Lynnwood Arts Centre (Kim Shippey).

Who Did It Club is an unassuming & proud group of 25 volunteers who have been quietly operating in Norfolk County since 1944.  They operate out of a non-descript building on Hillcrest Road in Simcoe.  They are best known for their short-term, free of charge, loan program of medical equipment. This includes hospital beds, wheelchairs, walkers, etc.  At any given time, hundreds of pieces of equipment are on loan around the county.  During the early stages of COVID, the Club provided 18 beds to NGH which were used to set up their “field” hospital.  The $17,300 will help fund a planned, much needed addition to their facility.  Donations of gently used medical equipment are welcome.

Another productive meeting!  We are so grateful to all our dedicated members who continue to support Norfolk Charities.  We are proud to announce that we added 4 new members this evening!  WELCOME! 

The successful recipient of $16,900 is St. Vincent de Paul presented by Linda Boll. The other charities who were selected to present were Waterford Skatepark (Jill Chuli) and Lynnwood Arts Centre (Kim Shippey).

St. Vincent de Paul will use this money to support their food kitchen which supplies a hot lunch on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday from Thanksgiving to mid April.  They offer these lunches out of the Knights of Columbus in Simcoe.  In addition, they have a small supply of food basics to deliver to those in need.  People can obtain these supplemental groceries by calling St. Mary’s Church.  They are always looking for volunteers to help.