Fedeli and Minister Cho give to area seniors

Life just got a little more golden for area seniors.

MPP Vic Fedeli stopped by the Royal Canadian Legion in Callander on June 14th, with a special guest, Raymond Cho, the Minister of Seniors and Accessibility of Ontario. It’s senior’s month, Fedeli reminded those gathered at the Legion, and in the spirit of supporting seniors. Minister Cho announced $180,000 will be given to four local groups.

The funds are part of the Province’s Senior Active Living Centre Grants.

“We’ve got a little over $51,000 for Mattawa’s Senior Citizen Club,” Fedeli detailed, “a wonderful club that serves around 220 older adults and seniors. It’s absolutely incredible to see these funds go there,” he added.

Club Action 50 Plus in East Ferris will also receive just over $51,000, and this club serves over 700 older residents. “It’s very popular in our neck of the woods,” Fedeli said, as the club offers many activities for seniors and provides many social events.

East Ferris’ Mayor, Pauline Rochefort, is very proud of Club Action 50 Plus. “It’s a very important centre” for the community, she highlighted. “The programming is incredible, every day, it’s incredible what they offer.” From hosting the Senior’s Summer Games, to providing communal meals, to organizing road trips to events, the club has earned a place in the lives of many an East Ferris senior – and those almost there, as the club is open to anyone over 50.

Another $51,000 went to the North Bay Golden Age Club, Fedeli said, noting it’s now called Club 135. He mentioned that “my grandmother was one of the founding members of the club,” and now there are around 300 members.

Callander’s Legion Branch 445 – which is also Bonfield’s and East Ferris’ Legion branch – also received funding for its senior programming. The province gave $26,400, “and we’re so pleased to report that this is more than double the funding than the club received last year,” Fedeli said.

When Minister Cho addressed the crowd, he mentioned how fond he is of Fedeli, “because he works so hard for seniors, and any MPP working hard for seniors, they are my favourite MPP.”

Cho also mentioned how nice it was to make the funding announcement at the Legion. “I have the highest respect for veterans,” he said, adding he was born in South Korea, and if not for the sacrifices of Canadian soldiers, he would not have been there today.

“Five hundred and sixteen young Canadians lost their life” in that war, Cho said. “And if they didn’t come, I wouldn’t be here standing and speaking to you. That’s why I have such high respect for the veterans. You are the ones that save our democracy and freedom.”

He continued to discuss the importance of keeping seniors active and engaged within their communities, and emphasized that isolation is so detrimental to an older person’s well-being.

Isolation and loneliness “is public enemy number one,” Cho said, “and our government, our premiere, and our MPP have been working very hard” to alleviate that. He detailed there are 316 senior active living centres within the province, and this year, the plan is to add another seventeen.

“It’s an exciting day,” Cho said.

David Briggs is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter who works out of BayToday, a publication of Village Media. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.