By Pepper Parr
October 19, 2014
BURLINGTON, ON.
All the big players and the heavy hitters have stepped up and done what they could for those people in the community who find themselves struggling as a result of the damage done to their homes during the August 4th flood. It is an impressive list and more names will be added in the weeks ahead as we reach that 100 day target chief fund raiser Ron Foxcroft set when the Burlington Community Foundation took on the task of running the public side of the fund raising effort that was needed to quality for provincial support.
In alphabetical order they are:
Bank of Montreal, Boehringer Ingelheim (Canada) Ltd, Branthaven Homes, Bruce Etherington & Associates, Burlington Community Foundation, Burlington Hydro Inc., Burlington Insurance Brokers Association, Burlington Lions Club, Cogeco, CUPE Local 44, Fengate, Fortinos, Insurance Bureau of Canada, L3 – Wescam, Linkins Medicine Professional Corporation, Longo’s, New Horizon, Newalta, Ontario Secondary School Teachers District 20, Pioneer Energy, RBC Royal Bank, Reliance Home Comfort, Smith’s Funeral Home, Union Gas, Walker Industries.
Catherine Brady organized a group that has coin donation boxes in more than sixty locations across the city. Some donours have put fifty dollar bills in those boxes. 
Then there is Sheil Patel, an ace tennis player and a student at the Fairview Glen Montessori school, who was talking to his physiotherapist Dorothy Borovich and asking what he could do to help the people who had their homes flooded. Out of that conversation came $ 3048, which was added to the more than $800,000that has been raised to date by the community.
Sheil, an 11 year old who works out as a tennis player at Cedar Springs, talked to his mother Pooja and together they came up with the idea of soliciting donations from area retailers and putting the prize in large glass jars that were on display at Cedar Springs and at the Fairview Glen school.
From the right: Ward four council member Jack Dennison, Mayor Goldring, Ron Foxcroft, Sheil Patel and his dad, Vip Patel.
People could then bid on each prize – they varied from a pair of Raptor tickets to a jar of gum balls; several merchants provided gift cards. The jars were the best way we could think of to display the prizes people would bid on. “The Domino’s pizza didn’t fit in the jar of course – we put in a label for that one” explained Shiel. “The school was very good to us” said Sheil.
“They let me sell tickets to the students and their families and the Fairview Glen Board of directors added $500 as well.” Pooja Patel and her husband wanted their children to attend an open minded school, where students had the freedom to move around and use their imaginations. Both their boys attend the Montessori school – have done so since the very beginning of their education.
Students from most of the grades at Fairview Glen Montessori school were out to support student Sheil Patel on his raising $3048 for flood relief.
The Fairview Glen school however just goes to grade six – so next fall Sheil will attend a private school. “We’ve been visiting some of the schools and deciding where Sheil will attend next year. While middle school and high school are ahead of Sheil, his eye is on Harvard where he would like to study medicine, hopefully on a tennis sports scholarship.
The Patel family live in a cul de sac south of Fairview, off Walker’s Line, where there have been just two families move elsewhere. “It’s a very stable community – a place, where we can live out our culture and be active Canadians citizens” said Pooja. She added that Canada is a country that accepts everyone – that can’t be said of many countries. She and her husband met as students at McMaster University – both were commerce students – and were married in a traditional Indian wedding ceremony.
“Yes, my husband rode a horse” she added. The family maintains both their culture and religion “but we also celebrate what we call “commercial Christmas” as well as many other Canadian celebrations. The large corporate donations to the flood relief program are vital – the individual efforts by young people in the community are what really reveal the spirit of the city.
Sheil Patel’s prize table included a pair of Raptors tickets, a pair of Asics tennis shoes (Tred Well), candy, gift cards from Marilu’s Market, Bombay Grill, Dominos Pizza, Holland Park Nursery, Kelly’s Bake Shoppe and many others.
This weekend both Longo’s and Fortinos will be asking their customers if they wish to make a small donation as they come to terms with the cashier. Take advantage of the opportunity – funds are still needed – and we may learn that the provincial government is not going to give the citizens anything in the way of Ontario Disaster Relief Assistance (ODRAP) despite the efforts of MPP Eleanor McMahon.
The application has been sitting on the desk of Minister Ted McMeekin for some time. Longos will be accepting donation until the 24th; Fortino’s will be accepting donations until the 30th.
Are Fortino’s and Longo’s matching donations or merely asking residents to contribute. If it is the later I do not think it is the same as donating money to the flood victims.
My question – What is the City doing? How much money have they put into the fund to help the residents affected. My question from the start has been – how much in the way of putting off cutting branches, and cleaning up after the ice storm contributed to the flooding? Did outdated and crumbling infrastructure contribute to the problems residents incurred?