'We can certainly try': Windsor-Essex charities need your help in May

The VON, the Soup Shack and Windsor Lifeline Outreach are all spending May collecting donations.

Here's how you can help.

The VON’s pasta nights

Every Wednesday in May, $8 will buy you all-you-can-eat pasta, salad and a roll.

It will be held from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Riverside Sportsmen Club.

“It's amazing how the name VON just rings a bell with people,” board member Carole Gray told CTV News Windsor. “When I went around to ask for donations for our event, most of the people I spoke with said they've either been touched by VON somehow, for a family member.”

Each Wednesday they will also raffle off a basket of wine from local wineries.

In addition to the well known ‘Meals on Wheels’ program, VON offers programs including a school snack program, helping to keep seniors in their homes and helping caregivers care for their sick family members.

“Everyone loves to take care of their loved ones themselves [but] it's difficult to do it alone. So we're there to have that support,” Gray said.

A flyer advertising VON Windsor-Essex's pasta night fundraiser taking place in May 2024. (Michelle Maluske/CTV News Windsor)

 

If the Shoe Fits for the Soup Shack

New and gently used shoes can be donated all month long at the Canadian Tires stores in Windsor.

It’s the second year for a campaign organized by Rotarian Sasha Syed.

The shoes will be given to clients of the Soup Shack, a mobile soup kitchen operating in Windsor that feeds the unhoused.

“The average homeless person is walking about 20 kilometers per day compared to the housed individuals walking about three kilometers per day,” said Syed. “So without properly fitting shoes — or any shoes at all — they face a lot of problems [with] their feet and their legs and so we're just trying to close that gap.”

 

Bare Bottoms Baby Necessities

Windsor Lifeline Outreach (WLO), a food bank based out of Windsor Christian Fellowship church is collecting baby items all month long.

“Food insecurity is also baby insecurity and these are our tiniest community members. So it's really important to support the families,” said Jackie Putterman with WLO.

Putterman said they don’t get items like diapers, wipes or formula donated very often but their clients do frequently need them.

All month, you can donate baby items at four community centres: WFCU Centre, the downtown aquatic centre, the Gino Marcus Centre and Capri Pizzeria Centre.

Putterman said any size diaper is greatly appreciated but sizes four to six are most often requested. Even if you have an opened bag of diapers, WLO will gladly take the donation.

All they ask is donors check to ensure any formula donations have not expired.

“If you wouldn’t give it to your baby, we don’t want it,” Putterman said.

She told CTV News Windsor its “distressing” for parents who have to leave a diaper on for longer than necessary because they are running out and can’t afford to buy more.

“We just thought, ‘Well, we have to do something.’ We can certainly try,” said Putterman. 

Soup Shack in Windsor, Ont. is putting on a 'If the Shoe Fits' fundraiser in May 2024. (Michelle Maluske/CTV News Windsor)