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Tiny donates $31,500 to four organizations in virtual presentation

Community Reach, GBGH Foundation, HCF Physician Recruitment and HSVCT Wheels 4 Wheels the recipients as part of 2021 budget process
20210721-Tiny-CoW-GBGHF
Tiny Mayor George Cornell presents a virtual cheque for $20,000 to Nicole Kraftscik of Georgian Bay General Hospital Foundation, as just one of many organizations who received township donations on the day.

The giant cardboard cheques were just a digitally-altered screenshot for each recipient, but that didn’t diminish the extraordinary gratitude and appreciation in the slightest.

“We promise, the real cheque will be signed,” quipped Tiny Mayor George Cornell.

As part of the 2021 budget, Tiny Township formally made cheque presentations through the Zoom virtual platform to four local organizations.

Community Reach, a non-profit organization which provides accessible transit services to North Simcoe, received $6,000 from Tiny. The donation comes on the heels of a purchase of a modern, pandemic-conscious van through provincial funding, and Tiny’s donation was said to go toward keeping that van running.

“On behalf of Community Reach and the community at large, thank you very much,” said transportation manager Rick Ignas. “It’s on the road now, being utilized quite heavily. As we move into Step 3 we’re seeing a big uptick in demand for it. The residents of Tiny Township and of North Simcoe communities will really benefit from it, and this funding here will help to pay for gas and all the maintenance to keep it running.”

Georgian Bay General Hospital (GBGH) Foundation received $20,000 from Tiny, which president and CEO Gail Hunt noted would go toward the many projects being undertaken by the hospital; $6 million is the cost being discussed to replace the central medical software system through Meditech Expanse, as just one of the many big ticket items.

“Health care is very expensive," Hunt said. "We really rely on the community to support us as much as they can, and so we’re very grateful and in awe of your ongoing support, and want to thank you so much for continuing to consider us every year and support us."

Also on the hospital’s agenda is a $1.3 million replacement of the entire central monitoring system within the nursing station, and a cost of $300,000 to replace the hospital’s crash carts.

Hospital foundation executive director Nicole Kraftscik ran a tally of Tiny’s donations in her thanks to the township.

“On behalf of all of us at the hospital and the foundation, thank you so much for this generous gift to the hospital,” said Kraftscik. “I think it’s really important to know that you guys have donated over $280,000 to the hospital. Thank you so much for having an amazing impact on patient care at GBGH.”

In a lengthy acceptance speech for $7,500 to the Huronia Community Foundation (HCF) Physician Recruitment, representative and retention officer David Gravelle brought attention to the many doctors who have come, and who will soon be arriving in North Simcoe.

“I just want to say thank you for your continued generous support of our efforts,” Gravelle said. “You may have seen online recently the recruitment of Dr. Sean Robinson and Dr. Jamileh Shaffaf who just started their practice yesterday in Midland.

"Earlier this spring, Dr. Byron Song started a family practice in Penetanguishene. So the efforts you put to financially support our program really go a long way in attracting these young physicians to our community.”

Mayor Cornell reiterated his appreciation: “Thank you for all you’ve done, and the accomplishments that we’ve made in recruiting doctors to this area. It’s been pretty strong and pretty significant.”

Wheels 4 Wheels, as part of the Huronia Seniors Volunteer Care Team (HSVCT), received $5,000 from Tiny council.

“On behalf of all of our members and our board of directors, thanks so much for your continued support,” said president Sharon Randall. “This year has been a challenge for a lot of people. For us, we haven’t been doing very many trips with our accessible van, but no trips means very few donations from the community as well. So with your help, we’ve been able to replace our van.”

Randall mentioned that long-term care restrictions had been lifted in Step 3, allowing residents to access such socially-crucial outings such as trips to stores, which delighted Cornell.

“Great news," said Cornell. "For long-term care residents, that whole aspect of socializing is extremely important, so it’s good to hear that. And we're glad to have someone like your team and the vehicles available to support them. Thank you again."

Archives of council meetings are available to view on Tiny township’s YouTube channel.


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Derek Howard, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

About the Author: Derek Howard, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Derek Howard covers Midland and Penetanguishene area civic issues under the Local Journalism Initiative, which is funded by the Government of Canada.
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