Canadore students rally to help those in need

Canadore College
News Release

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Canadore students rallied together to raise money for a worthy cause.

This morning Social Service Worker students presented over $4,300 to the Gathering Place. Over the past month the students organized multiple fundraisers for the soup kitchen that serves prepared and nutritious meals to people in need. Events included draws and raffles at sporting events, a bottle drive, a movie matinee, a pasta dinner at the Davedi Club and a concert at One Hundred Georges.

“Our class wanted to do something to make a difference in our community. We chose the Gathering Place because it operates completely off of private donations, and it is a very important service in North Bay,” said Dawn Ahola, second year SSW student. “There is no other place where community members in need can get a hot meal every day.”

The Gathering Place is open Monday to Friday and serves approximately 135 people a day with a cost of approximately $3,000 a week to operate.

“It was absolutely wonderful to work with this energetic and resourceful group of students,” said Jill Clark, Executive Director of The Gathering Place. “It is great to see them connect to an issue that they will certainly face in their line of work. Without community fundraisers like these, our organization could not keep its doors open.”

In January 2012, the community soup kitchen will have served 200,000 meals to North Bay’s most in need citizens. The Gathering Place relies solely on volunteers, private donors, sponsors and fundraisers to keep the service open. To learn more about how you can help, visit www.thegatheringplacenorthbay.org.

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