2 FOCUS - NOVEMBER 2017 ...................... Letters continued on page 56 Sarah saved the bees Dear Editor Sarah would like to wholeheartedly thank the community of Scugog and all who opened their doors and contributed to her ‘Save the Bees’ initiative. What a joy to see our community’s compassion and enthusiasm in responding to the need to strengthen the bee population. Thank you to individuals who embraced her project and provided meaningful encouragement with kind words, wisdom and passion in fostering environmental awareness around this issue. Thank you also to Focus on Scugog (June 2017 page 16) for supporting and communicating her initiative in your valued magazine. Your generous donations resulted in $1,408.25, all of which will be given to the Ontario Beekeepers’ Association. Along with this incredible donation, many have planted the wildflower seeds and have expressed their delight in seeing them grow, bloom and attract bees, helping in the efforts of pollination. Together we can protect and strengthen native bee and other pollinator insects whose species play a vital role in our ecosystem and in the maintenance of a healthy and sustainable environment. Sincerely, Helen McLaren on behalf of Sarah McLaren It’s that time of year …. Community Gift Giving Program Dear Editor Once again Joan Elliott and myself who are Independent Sales Consultants with Mary Kay Cosmetics are participating in the “Community Gift Giving” program in partnership with the Port Perry Place LTC Home. The program works like this: We have adopted the Port Perry Place LTC Home and along with your support, will provide each resident with a Christmas Gift. Please join us in this wonderful program to aid in ensuring that each resident at the Port Perry Place LTC Home will have a gift to open this Festive Season. Each gift will be a memorable gift that will be wrapped in a beautiful Christmas bag with a card attached from you. The cost of each gift is $20.00. Cheques can be made out to “Community Gift Giving Program” or us. We will issue a receipt that can be used for advertising and promotion. All gifts will be delivered prior to Christmas. Thank you for helping to make this a bright Merry Christmas for the residents of the Port Perry Place LTC Home. Joan Elliott 905-728-4220 Jillian Howsam 905-982-1902 286 Rosa Street, Port Perry, L9L 1M5 Port Perry Hospital Foundation clears up confusion Dear MaryAnn We were very concerned to see a “Thumbs Down” about Port Perry Hospital Foundation in the October issue of Focus on Scugog. Your magazine is widely read and respected, and what your readers are saying to you about our hospital and our hospital foundation is important to us. We would be grateful if you would consider publishing this letter to clear up any confusion about our current fundraising efforts. Port Perry Hospital Foundation’s mission is to support the equipment needs, programs and capital projects of Port Perry Hospital. Your readers are absolutely right – our understanding is that Lakeridge Health’s insurers will be responsible for all the repairs, infrastructure and construction costs associated with restoring the hospital to its former state and no donated funds will be used for those purposes. While there may be an opportunity for us to participate in improvement projects in other areas of the hospital, these are separate from the reconstruction. The Foundation’s main focus during the time of closure continues to be raising funds to buy new and replacement equipment. All the medical and patient equipment that we purchased before the August 25th fire will still be there when the hospital reopens. However, it is a constant challenge to keep the hospital equipped and up-to-date and we can only be prepared to deal with this by seeking assistance from our community. We feel it is essential that we are able to say yes when, for example, one of our surgeons asks for a $25,000 specialty monitor that will help save patient lives, or a nurse needs funding to offer a program that brings young people and frail elderly patients together. The ability to fulfill these needs without delay is due to the thoughtful generosity of people like your readers. We are deeply thankful to everyone who supports Port Perry Hospital. Sincerely, Mark Fletcher, President Port Perry Hospital Foundation Please send us your letters, maximum of 250 words. Be aware that we cannot publish negative letters about individuals or businesses. Submit to: focus@focusonscugog.com