Support sought as TVDSB 'Caring Fund' sees increasing need
The Thames Valley District School Board (TVDSB) is hoping to raise over $20,000 this Giving Tuesday for its Caring Fund, as the emergency fund for families sees growing demand.
Jennifer needed help after her family lost everything they owned in a house fire in January of 2020, and she is just one of hundreds of families in similar circumstances that are helped by the TVDSB’s Caring Fund.
“It made me realize that our family mattered to the community, that people were out there, and they did care about our family.”
Dawn Ruddick, principal at London's Lord Elgin Public School, said the pandemic has had a big impact.
“This year above all else people are already struggling, and people that were struggling are struggling more because of COVID.”
According to the board, 215 families have already been helped with emergency funding, totalling $79,000 coming from this fund.
If that trend continues, the projected number is going to rise well above $200,000, up from $167,000 for all of last year.
“At the school board, we’re noticing a lot more requests for support this year, 70 per cent increase from last year,” said Jackie Ellefsen of the Thames Valley Education Foundation.
It's a problem across the district. Ruddick has seen it, and how the Caring Fund can help.
“I have seen the people in our community who have been completely down and out on their luck and they turn to us. And they don’t just want us to say, you know, 'Hey, we feel for you,’ it’s not enough, and so being able to say to them, 'We’ve got immediate, timely support for you to get you through,' it just makes all the difference.”
Sharing the message on social media is a help, but the board also says if you can, a donation page on their website is available as well.
“We’re looking to sort of engage the community and see if we can get some support tomorrow for Giving Tuesday and also to support our students,” Ellefsen said.
Donations aren’t limited to Giving Tuesday, and can be made at anytime by visiting the TVDSB website.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Amid concerns over 'collateral damage' Trudeau, Freeland defend capital gains tax change
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
Widow looking for answers after Quebec man dies in Texas Ironman competition
The widow of a Quebec man who died competing in an Ironman competition is looking for answers.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
Fewer medical students going into family medicine contributing to doctor shortage
As some family doctors are retiring and others are moving away from family medicine, there are fewer medical students to take their place.
'It's discriminatory': Individuals refused entry to Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
Individuals being barred from entering Ontario’s legislature while wearing a keffiyeh say the garment is part of their cultural identity— and the only ones making it political are the politicians banning it.
Bodies found by U.S. authorities searching for missing B.C. kayakers
United States authorities who have been searching for a pair of missing kayakers from British Columbia since the weekend have recovered two bodies in the nearby San Juan Islands of Washington state.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.
Photographer alleges he was forced to watch Megan Thee Stallion have sex and was unfairly fired
A photographer who worked for Megan Thee Stallion said in a lawsuit filed Tuesday that he was forced to watch her have sex, was unfairly fired soon after and was abused as her employee.
Competition bureau finds 'substantial' anti-competitive effects with proposed Bunge-Viterra merger
The proposed merger of agricultural giants Viterra and Bunge is raising competition concerns from the federal government.