Mission and Outreach
Pictured L-R are Jim Dawson, President Louise Schebesch, Marjorie Dawson of Rotary Club of Norfolk Sunrise and survivors John Elliot, Roberta Hill, Dawn Hill and Mohawk Memorial Park Board member Virginia Ninham.
Speaker Series Supports Mohawk Memorial Park Successful Indigenous Voices Speaker Series raises $3000 for Mohawk Village Memorial Park Close to 70 people, mainly from Norfolk County, and others from SW Ontario, took advantage of the variety of wonderful Indigenous speakers available in the recent speaker series via Zoom. Generous donations from participants resulted in a gift of over $3,000 for the Mohawk Village Memorial Park. The park is run by residential school survivors to provide a healing place for residential school survivors and the community. Rotary club of Norfolk Sunrise, along with Grace United Church in Port Dover recently hosted the Indigenous Speaker Series featuring four amazing Indigenous speakers. The first speaker was Amos Key Jr of Six Nations who provided a brief history of Residential schools and illustrated the impact of Residential schools – particularly the Mohawk Institute Residential School in Brantford. Bryant Peters gave a talk on the Indian Act and the huge intergenerational impact that the act has had on the Indigenous community and Canada as a whole. He reminded us that the main elements of the Indian Act are still in force today, restricting how Indigenous people live and how it impacts almost all areas of life for indigenous people. Steven Greyeyes, the Executive Director of the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation (NCTR) spoke on the Canada-wide impact of Residential schools in Canada and the work of the NCTR to provide a repository for collecting information on residential schools and the important work of documenting the stories and history of the schools. This is particularly important in the light of the discovery of unmarked grave sites at many former residential schools. Six Nations elder Rene Thomas-Hill spoke about living in two worlds- and reflected on the two world views from an indigenous perspective. While healing begins with truth, it depends on respect and understanding that we all need to work together to develop through relationship building. Thanks are also due to Port Dover Jewelry and Gifts for helping to sell tickets! Go to the following link to learn more about the Mohawk Village Memorial Park - click here for the link. |
The Mission and Outreach Committee is focused on building partnerships and opportunities to support individuals in need and the communities we live in. We have an active Mission and Outreach Committee which are actively involved in local partnerships and projects, such as:
Ryerson Camp We, along with UCW and our Children's Ministry and Messy Church, actively support Ryerson Camp and offer assistance to children wanting to go to camp. We also support the camp by looking after the Cabin 4 at the camp, last year we replaced some siding, installed new screen doors and re-painted the cabin. Lifeline Food bank Many members of our church are active members of the food bank providing organisation, treasurer, help on the Tuesday morning distribution and also many members help through food and produce donations. Lakewood Public School We contribute to the Christmas family support program for needy children. Seniors Helping Seniors - we do small projects- 1-2 hours of work as a service to seniors. The service is free but we ask that you consider a donation to the Grace United M&O. If you have a project- don't be shy- our motto is no job is too small! Call Jim Dawson at 519 583 3328. Nations Uniting Nations Uniting is a group that encourages dialog and understanding between First Nations and other Canadians. We participate in a number of programs such as sharing circles and grandmother's tea. Our M&O team also raise awareness and funds to support projects such as Canadian Foodgrains Bank, Caribbean Workers Outreach program and Riversyde83. We are also working with local churches to help resettle Syrian Refugees. |
