SIRCH Community Services

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SIRCH adds two more Share the Warmth Give Away Days

Snow is starting to fall, which means winter is almost here. Winters in Haliburton County can be long and cold. Having the right winter gear can make it much more bearable.

An initiative of SIRCH Community Services, Share the Warmth helps families and seniors stay warm by distributing free winter coats and winter wear.

Earlier in October 2019, SIRCH hosted two Share the Warmth Give Away Days. At those two events, 103 winter coats, 104 pairs of mitts, 42 hats, 15 scarves, 14 sweaters, 10 pairs of snow pants, 9 pairs of socks, 2 pairs of boots, and 1 pair of slippers, were distributed to members of the community.

“Thanks to the generosity of the people of Haliburton County, we were able to extend Share the Warmth later into the season,” said Margee Shelly, Program Coordinator at SIRCH Community Services. “The generous donations of clean coats, snow pants, and other winter clothing make a huge difference in a person’s life during the long winter in the Highlands.”

If you are in need of a winter coat or other winter clothing, two additional Share the Warmth Give Away Days are coming up:

  • Thursday, November 14, 2019 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., at St. Paul’s Anglican Church, 19 Invergordon Ave, Minden
  • Saturday, November 16, 2019 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., at SIRCH Central, 2 Victoria Street, Haliburton

All winter wear items are free of charge. There will also be coffee and hot chocolate available.

Share the warmth by donating winter clothing

The cooler weather is a reminder that winter is just around the corner. Winters in Haliburton County can be long and cold. Having the right winter gear can make it much more bearable.

The fourth annual Share the Warmth winter clothing drive kicks off on October 10, 2019. An initiative of SIRCH Community Services, Share the Warmth helps families and seniors stay warm by distributing free winter coats and winter wear.

To contribute to Share the Warmth, you may drop off clean, gently used winter clothing items—clean coats, snow pants, mitts, hats, winter boots, socks, and slippers—between October 10 to 22, 2019 at drop-off locations throughout the county.

In Haliburton, the drop-off locations are Algonquin Outfitters (218 Highland St), Haliburton Foodland (188 Highland St), SIRCH Community Services (49 Maple Avenue, 2nd Floor), and Todd’s Independent (5121 County Rd 21).

In Minden, the drop-off locations are Dollo’s Foodland (12325 Hwy 35), Easton’s ValuMart (12646 Hwy 35), and St. Paul’s Anglican Church (19 Invergordon Ave).

“We’re grateful for the local businesses and organizations who support this annual winter clothing drive,” said Margee Shelly, Program Coordinator at SIRCH Community Services. “We’re especially grateful to all the members of the community who generously donate their gently worn winter jackets to help others in the county.”

If you are in need of a winter coat or other winter clothing, you may attend one of two Give Away Days. There will also be coffee and hot chocolate available. All winter wear items are free of charge.

The first Give Away Day is Thursday, October 24, 2019 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., at St. Paul’s Anglican Church (19 Invergordon Ave, Minden).

The second Give Away Day is Saturday, October 26, 2019 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., at SIRCH Central, 2 Victoria Street, Haliburton.

“Share the Warmth is a way for us to help our neighbours stay warm this winter,” explained Margee. “The generous donations of clean coats, snow pants, and other winter clothing can make a huge difference in a person’s life during the long winter in the Highlands.”

Take a tasty trip to Korea—without leaving the Highlands

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Tired of making the same old dinners, day after day, week after week? Curious about flavours and dishes from other parts of the world? Want to improve your cooking skills?

SIRCH Community Services has just the thing to rejuvenate your meal preparations: Korean Cooking Classes!

In these classes, you will learn to cook authentic, popular Korean dishes: Bulgogi Jeongol (hot pot), Dumpling Jeongol, Soondubu Jjigae (soft tofu stew), and Samgyetang (ginseng chicken soup).

“I am passionate about cooking, and sharing my Korean heritage with others,” said class instructor Lydia Kim of SIRCH Community Services. “You don’t need to be an experienced cook to participate. Just be open to trying new skills and trying new tasty dishes!”

A graduate of SIRCH’s Cook It Up restaurant industry job training program, Lydia moved to Haliburton County from Peterborough a number of years ago. She originally emigrated from Korea when she was a teenager. “Food helps bring people together. When family and friends work together in the kitchen, they enjoy their time together, create memories, and the meal tastes just that much better.” She encourages friends and couples to sign up for the classes so they can share and socialize together.

Each class, you’ll learn how to prepare a specific Korean dish, then sit down together and eat your delicious lunch! You’ll take back recipes so you can make the dish at home too! Proceeds from the classes will help support SIRCH Community Service’s food initiatives, like the Community Kitchen.

There are four Korean Cooking Classes in fall 2019:

  • Monday, October 21, 2019 – Bulgogi Jeongol (hot pot)
  • Monday, November 4, 2019 – Dumpling Jeongol
  • Monday, November 18, 2019 – Soondubu Jjigae (soft tofu stew)
  • Monday, December 2, 2019 – Samgyetang (ginseng chicken soup)

The classes will be held from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at SIRCH Central, located at 2 Victoria Street, Haliburton (next to the laundromat). Class size is limited to eight people, so there’s opportunities to ask questions, participate, and assemble the dish. The cost per person per class is $65. You can pick and choose what class you’d like to attend. Or, register for three classes and get the fourth class for half price. Register and pay for the cooking classes by calling SIRCH at 705-457-1742, or drop by 49 Maple Avenue, Unit 4, in Haliburton.

Haliburton residents and visitors have previously enjoyed Lydia’s cooking at SIRCH’s Korean Cooking Classes held in spring 2019, and to rave reviews at the International Bistro at the Haliburton Highlands Secondary School during the summer.

Release of the Butterflies 2016

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There is a growing need for bereavement supports for residents of our county. Grief touches us all, whether it’s the death of a parent, friend, child, pet or whether it’s a different loss. Over a year ago, SIRCH started a bereavement program to help residents grieving the loss of a loved one. The program included 2 levels of grief groups, running every spring and fall, and a third level which runs monthly. These have been enormously impactful to the participants, helping them make sense of a world without their loved ones in it.

SIRCH receives no government funding for its bereavement program. To ensure that the Journey Through Grief groups can continue, SIRCH started a fundraising event last year, called “Release of the Butterflies”. Hundreds of beautiful Painted Lady butterflies were released at once into the air at the wetlands behind the Minden Cultural Centre. What a beautiful and meaningful occasion that was!

This year we will once again have the “Release of the Butterflies” in Minden on June 12th. Overwhelmingly, people are excited and supportive about this event, which includes entertainment, children’s activities, food, and (of course) the release of hundreds of butterflies. SIRCH did a great deal of research last year before introducing this fundraiser, to ensure that releasing this many butterflies would not interfere with our local ecosystem or the butterflies we currently have.

We chose Painted Lady butterflies, rather than Monarchs, because the Painted Lady is the most prolific butterfly in the world, covering North and South America, Europe, Asia and Africa. The main reason for this is the large number of host plants they will use. The butterflies lay eggs on a number of natural and garden plants including hollyhock, thistle, sunflowers, clover, lambsquarter, yarrow, mallow and others. Painted Ladies are found all across North America, and the Painted Lady’s gene pool is spread over much of the hemisphere. Even though the butterflies have been raised in protected conditions, they are not domesticated. They are as wild as their counterparts that exist in this area. We also chose a local butterfly farm in Lakefield that is family owned and we visited the farm to see their operation prior to committing to the event.

The healthy butterflies that are released will be both male and female. They will enter the natural environment in our area and reproduce, increasing the numbers of the butterflies locally. I don’t know about you, but I have certainly noticed a decline in butterfly populations over the past decade (bees too). Butterflies are important pollinators. And unlike bees which are generally restricted to a local area, many butterflies are always on the move and can cross pollinate over a large area, improving the genetic mix of genes of the plant community. Ceremonial releases have become an important proactive ecological program for maintaining wild populations of these amazing insects and also the native plants that depend on them. We chose the Minden Cultural Centre because of the beautiful wetlands that the boardwalk meanders through.

Other benefits of our butterfly release:

  • It’s a chance to educate our children on the life cycle of a butterfly and how important they are to our ecology
  • It’s an opportunity to honour someone in your life, to launch a hope or dream, or celebrate a special person who has passed on by symbolically releasing a beautiful butterfly
  • It’s a chance to enjoy entertainment, camaraderie, and good food in an idyllic setting
  • It supports our critically important Bereavement Program in this community
  • It will help support the addition of other bereavement supports in this county – specifically we would like to do a children’s grief group.

Please join us on June 12th for our Release of the Butterflies event. If you’d like to help with the event or make a donation, or purchase butterflies to release please contact Marilyn Rydberg, RotB Fundraising Chair at mak.rydberg@gmail.com.

For further information about the bereavement program or the Journey Through Grief groups, contact Shelley Richardson, Journey Through Grief Coordinator, at shelley_richardson@sirch.on.ca.

10th Anniversary Hike for Hospice

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Join us for SIRCH’s 10th Annual Hike for Hospice on April 27th. The full Hike goes around Head Lake, however feel free to modify your Hike, or simply cheer on the Hikers. Remember the Hike starts at 1:00 with a Memory Walk around the track at the High School.

View the trail map here.
Download a pledge form  here.

Details

Hike for Hospice : Sunday April 27th, 2014
Registration: 12 noon
Hike and Memory Walk: 1pm

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