'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)
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Poilievre says Canadians 'fleeing' to Nicaragua, Liberals say it shows he 'doesn't have a clue'
Liberal parliamentarians are criticizing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre over a new video in which he promotes the idea that some Canadians are 'fleeing' Canada to live in Nicaragua because they can't afford a house in this country.
Canadians are eyeing moves to these cities for more affordable housing
Faced with elevated housing prices, half of Canadians in the country's largest cities are considering moving to places with more affordable housing.
Police move on pro-Palestinian protesters at UBC campus
Police have moved on pro-Palestinian protesters at the University of British Columbia campus in Vancouver, with video on social media showing lines of officers advancing on demonstrators rallying at a main intersection.
Infant dies in ATV crash, N.S. RCMP says alcohol may be a factor
An infant has died and three others, including another child, were taken to hospital following an ATV crash in Forties, N.S., on Monday.
'Do not drive': Nissan warns Canadian drivers of explosion risk impacting 48,000 vehicles
Car manufacturer Nissan has issued a do-not-drive warning for some older vehicles equipped with Takata airbag inflators, due to the risk of explosion during a crash.
'Scandals and secrets': On board the world's most exclusive private residential ship
It’s a floating city exclusively home to the 1 per cent, a playground for multimillionaires and billionaires that circumnavigates the world's oceans.
Tessa Virtue reveals she's expecting her first child. Here's what Canadians had to say
Canadian figure-skating icon Tessa Virtue is expecting her first child, she revealed via social media Tuesday.
Charges against world's top golfer Scottie Scheffler dropped after arrest outside PGA Championship
Criminal charges against Scottie Scheffler have been dismissed, ending a legal saga that began with images of the world’s top male golfer being arrested and handcuffed in Louisville during the PGA Championship.
How Trump's hush money trial verdict could affect the 2024 election
Here is how three potential outcomes from the jury room ─ a guilty verdict, an acquittal or a hung jury ─ could affect the presidential campaign.