Latest news with #ElginCounty
CTV News
10 hours ago
- Health
- CTV News
‘A rewarding experience': Volunteers take part in annual Day of Caring
Volunteers took part in the United Way Elgin Middlesex's 24th annual Day of Caring on June 19, 2025. (Lauren Stallone/CTV News London) Hundreds of volunteers from local businesses joined together for the 24th annual 'Day of Caring' event taking place across London, Elgin County, and Middlesex County. The event, hosted by United Way Elgin Middlesex, aims at providing volunteers deeper insight into important work being done in the community. 'It's an opportunity for workplaces and corporations to come together and go out to united way funded partners and roll up their sleeves and do a little bit of hard work,' said Kelly Ziegner, president and CEO of United Way Elgin Middlesex. Volunteers were sent out to 23 different agencies and participated in activities such as 'garden cleanup' and 'hosting community barbeques.' Organizers said participating in the day is a 'great opportunity' for volunteers to gain a deeper insight into the work being done by United Way's Funded Programs. 'It's great for our workplaces and corporations that are involved because their employees get to work together on something a little different than their desk jobs,' said Ziegner. Jordan Moat with Libro Credit Union, one of the organizations that sponsored and participated in the event, said he enjoys 'sharing such a rewarding experience' with his staff. 'It's a feel-good moment, right?' said Moat. 'They enjoy rolling up their sleeves and getting their hands dirty and feel connected to the community.' One of the projects included in the day was 'Type Diabeat-it' a non-profit organization focused on ensuring Canadians with diabetes have access to quality produce and increase their consumption of vegetables. 'This is Harvest Haven, this is one of our many projects,' said Gonzalo Gomez-Daza, operations manager for Type Diabeat-it. 'It's a one-and-a-half-acre lot, here we grow food that goes back to the community for free.' The non-profit said they were thankful to have so many volunteers come out and show their support. 'Being able to bring all these volunteers here means that lots of work, probably about a couple months worth of work will be done in about a day,' said Gomez-Daza
CTV News
a day ago
- CTV News
Copper vases stolen from Malahide cemetery
An Ontario Provincial Police logo in this undated file image. OPP in Elgin County are investigating thefts of copper vases from a Malahide Township cemetery. According to police, officers were dispatched to the address at 8152 Imperial Rd. just after 12:30 p.m. on June 13 for reports of a theft. A second complaint was made just after 11 a.m. June 16 for reports of a theft at the same address. Police believe the suspect(s) entered the property sometime between June 9 and 13 and stole copper vases from grave sites. If you have any information that could assist police in their investigation, please contact Elgin OPP at 1-888-310-1122. The investigation remains ongoing.
CTV News
07-06-2025
- General
- CTV News
LemondAid Day raising thousands to send Elgin County kids to camp
An Elgin County-wide initiative could help send nearly 100 kids to summer camp. An Elgin County-wide initiative could help send nearly 100 kids to summer camp. LemondAid Day has 43 stands across the region selling lemonade by donation Saturday with 100 per cent of the proceeds going to the Elgin Children's Foundation (EFC). 'Kids, families and businesses are setting up lemonade stands all across town,' says Myles Proulx, a volunteer and community engagement advocate at Family & Children's Services of St. Thomas and Elgin County. 060725 - LemonAid Myles Proulx of Family and Children's Services is the coordinator of LemonAid Day in Elgin County (Source: Brent Lale/CTV London) 'Overnight camp costs about $700, and day camp is about $300. We have a bunch of kids that have requested camp this year, so we could potentially send about 86 kids to camp'. The goal is to raise $25,000 after bringing in $13,000 a year ago in the first annual event. At Geerlinks Home Hardware in St. Thomas, dozens of customers were stopping on their way into the store to purchase a lemonade. They were dropping anywhere from $5 to $50 in the bucket. 060725 - LemonAid A customer supporting LemonAid Day pours a glass into a cup in Aylmer, Ont. on Saturday, June 7, 2025. (Source: Brent Lale/CTV London) 'I think this is a big one for us because it's involving kids,' says Danielle Geerlinks. 'We're doing this to send kids in the community to camp, where a lot of these kids maybe wouldn't have the opportunity to do that otherwise. We like to involve our kids in it and show them, sending it down into different generations, how important it is to support the community'. Some of the camps involved include Camp Stevenson, Horseman's School of Equitation (HSE), Pearce Williams, as well as the YMCA, YWCA, STEM, STEAM and the City of St. Thomas. 'I'll give you a little story,' says Proulx. 'We had a young man that stopped by one of the lemonade stand's last year. He was in his 20s. He said he was involved with Family and Child Services when he was younger, and he was able to go to camp because of programs like this and he said, honestly, it changed his life. He gave a $20 donation, which is a beautiful symbol of what we're doing here. It's about community coming together, giving back for kids, families that might not be able to afford to send their kids to camp'. 060725 - LemonAid Children run the LemonAid Day stand outside of Geerlinks Home Hardware in St. Thomas, Ont. on Saturday, June 7, 2025. (Source: Brent Lale/CTV London) Aylmer Police had a stand outside the Imperial Market in Aylmer Saturday. 'It's important when we keep the money in our County and support local,' says Deputy Chief Chris Johnson of the Aylmer Police. 'If we can send one kid to camp, we've done our job today'. Judging by the early support Saturday, dozens of kids will get that opportunity.
CBC
29-05-2025
- Business
- CBC
St. Thomas area doctor incentive program funds 7 physicians so far this year
A financial incentive program offered by the City of St. Thomas and Elgin County to attract and retain family doctors has doled out funds this year to seven physicians, including at least three new to the region. It's among financial incentives on offer across Ontario from municipal and county governments with the aim of curtailing growing doctor shortages and retaining family physicians. In St. Thomas, the city and county have offered $33,000 in interest-free, forgivable loans for years as part of a Health Recruitment Partnership involving local politicians and other community stakeholders, including St. Thomas Elgin General hospital and the area Home Builders' Association. The loans can be used for office expenses and medical equipment, among other things, and are forgivable on condition the doctor provide at least four years of service in the county. Last week, St. Thomas council endorsed providing funding to two new doctors — Dr. Wallace Ordiah and Dr. Aghogho Nathaniel Oyibo — who plan to begin practising in the city this year. The city and county also offer a scholarship awarding $1,000 per year to up to 10 people enrolled in accredited medical schools, with an emphasis on those pursuing a career as a family doctor locally. Urgent need for family doctors There are many reasons for the shortage of doctors plaguing Ontario municipalities, said Lori Baldwin-Sands, a St. Thomas city council member and chair of the Health Recruitment Partnership. One challenge is the large patient rosters of retiring doctors, which sometimes number as many as 5,000 patients, she said. New doctors coming out of medical school are looking for a better quality of life, and smaller rosters of between 1,000 to 1,500 patients, she said. "This has created an urgent need in communities everywhere, because the doctors that are retiring are leaving a lot of their patients orphaned," by not being able to have a new doctor take on their full patient roster, she told CBC's Afternoon Drive on Tuesday. "The last statistics that we had show about 10,000 orphaned residents without a family doctor within our community, and we know that the numbers are higher," she said referring to both St. Thomas and Elgin County. "We've heard the number can go as high as 15,000, 20,000." At least 13 per cent of Ontarians didn't have access to a regular health care provider in 2023, Statistics Canada data shows. Doctor shortages are more acute in rural communities, and one study by the Ontario College of Family Physicians found at least 670,000 Ontarians travel 50 km or more to see their doctor. In neighbouring London, the idea of municipalities offering financial incentives to attract doctors has garnered criticism from Mayor Josh Morgan, who believes they should be illegal, calling them a race to the bottom which pits municipalities against one another. In March, London councillors voted to provide $50,000 for one year to the Middlesex-London Ontario Health Team, which is leading doctor recruitment efforts in the county. The health team had requested $80,000 over three years. Other Ontario cities offering incentives includes Welland, which provides $100,000 to doctors who moved to the city to launch or take over an existing practice, with the promise they stay in the city for five years. The $1 million program has attracted at least 14 doctors to the city since its 2023 launch. In Huntsville, doctors are lured with an $80,000 signing bonus if they agree to work there for at least five years, while in Marmora and Lake near eastern Ontario, doctors have been offered riverfront housing and clinic space at zero cost. "Some of them are very different. I have talked to some doctors that said they were offered a house for a five-year period. Some doctors are told they would have their tuition paid," Baldwin-Sands said. "We have, in St. Thomas and Elgin County, a quality of life that we feel is second to none. That's why, next week, we're hosting a group of medical students here in the community and showcasing some of the beautiful gems that we have."
CTV News
28-05-2025
- General
- CTV News
Three sent to hospital, Highway 3 closes after serious crash
Three people are in hospital following a serious two-vehicle collision in Elgin County. Three people have been taken to hospital with undetermined injury after a two-vehicle collision in Elgin County. Emergency services were called to the scene in the area of Highway 3 near Ford Road and Ron McNeil Road just before 9 a.m. on Wednesday. Ford Road crash Emergency services on scene in the area of Highway 3 near Ford Road and Ron McNeil Road on Wednesday, May 28, 2025. (Brent Lale/CTV News London) Ford Road and Ron McNeil Road are closed at Highway 3. Drivers are asked to avoid the area and to not go around the road closed signs. More to come.
