Community Care gets In the Mood
The Community Care organization is a mostly volunteer group of compassionate individuals who assist seniors and persons with disabilities, providing them with services such as transportation, home maintenance, personal distress alarms, meals on wheels, reassurance visits or calls and much more.
To be able to provide these services fundraising is a necessity and our local Community Care Office pulled out all the stops for their annual major fundraiser this year; organizing a Saturday night gala at the Norwood Community Centre on February 4. The organizers, drawing inspiration from the Big Band era, appropriately titled the evening “In the Mood”; an obvious nod to the timeless tune made famous by the great Glenn Miller and his Orchestra.
The room was eloquently decorated in blacks and reds conveying an ambiance of love and romance. (It is close to Valentine’s Day after all.) About 70 guests arrived in formal attire to enjoy a fun filled evening that included a lavish banquet prepared by Bruce Brett and his Trillium Catering Staff.
Many individuals were the lucky winners of several door prizes and attendees also had the opportunity to bid on a large selection of generously donated items at the silent auction tables. The Kenzie Jazz Band, a four piece orchestral styled group from Toronto along with vocalist Julie MacGregor provided the evening’s entertainment.
Fittingly, the first song of the night was In the Mood, the band continued in true big band style leaving guests the occasion to simply dance the night away.
Community Care expresses their sincere appreciation to the major sponsors for the gala, Maple-View Retirement Home and J.J. Stewart Motors. Special thanks are also extended to the many individuals and businesses that donated to the silent auction and to the guests themselves who supported the organizations important work in the community by merely coming out and enjoying a fine evening. Community Care is hoping to make the gala their signature annual fundraiser event.
This year, 2017 will mark the 30th year for Community Care in Norwood; the organization was formed back in 1987 in response to a number of requests made to the then village Reeve Joan Marshall requesting information about transportation services for area seniors. A few conversations with Community Care Peterborough resulted in a public meeting being arranged and held in early October of the same year. A relatively large and enthusiastic crowd gathered for this meeting and Norwood Community Care was “born”.
The newly formed organization under the tutelage of their parent office in Peterborough, adopted their mission of assisting and supporting area seniors “to stay in their own homes.” In the beginning the organization went under the name of Peterborough County Community Care, by 1990 it had been changed to the Senior Citizen’s Council and finally by 2000 the name became simply Community Care to better reflect their role of service to not only seniors, but adults with disabilities as well. Three decades later the Norwood Office remains an important and valued resource for area residents.
For info on the many services Community Care provides or if you would like to become a volunteer call the office at 705-639-5631.