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October 7, 2025
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Thanksgiving Food Drive now on at Centre 55 By Matthew Stephens
CENTRE 55 is teaming up with Grace Pascoe Food Bank to host a Thanksgiving Food Drive this week. The Grace Pascoe Food Bank is based out of Calvary Baptist Church at 72 Main St., just down the road and across the street from Centre 55. “Thanksgiving is a great time when people are thinking about giving thanks for what they have, and are wanting to give back to others who might be in need,” said Rev. Ruth Bartlett, Pastor of Calvary Baptist Church. “We wanted to take this opportunity to remind the community of the need that’s out there for all of our neighbours who are looking to be able to put food on their tables as well.” The food drive is now underway and will run until Oct. 9. Those who wish to drop off contributions can do so each day from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at Centre 55 at 97 Main St. Non-perishable items can be dropped off at the front reception area. Contributions can also be made at Grace Pascoe Food Bank (Calvary Church) on Wednesdays when receiving crews are on site. Executive Director of the Calvary Grace Food Bank Debbie Visconti said donations are needed now more than ever as the cost-of-living crisis continues to afflict members
of the community. “As families struggle to pay for housing and daily essentials such as food, we find an increase in the number of local people coming into our food bank. We could really use the help of the community to assist us in providing the necessary food for families that deal with food insecurity,” said Visconti. Items most needed include canned vegetables and fruits, canned meats, canned soups and stews, rice, pasta, and beans, boxed stuffing and mashed potatoes, canned cranberry sauce and gravy, peanut butter, cereal and oatmeal, canned tuna and meats, baby food, diapers and formula, as well as granola bars and school snacks. Financial donations will also be accepted and will receive a tax receipt. Bartlett said she is thankful for the community’s support of the food bank. “I’m really appreciative of the fact that this ministry of the church is just neighbours helping neighbours. The 40 or so volunteers that we have helping on Wednesdays with the delivery or Thursday nights with either greeting people or registering people or working the food tables – they’re all people that are just neighbours that want to help neighbours,” said Bartlett. For more information about the Thanksgiving Food Drive, go to www.centre55.com/events/turkeydrive
Night Light Walk in support of local shelters set for the Beach on Oct. 23 THE SECOND annual Night Light Walk Toronto in support of the Royal LePage Shelter Foundation’s Night Light Walk Toronto will be taking place on Thursday, Oct. 23, in the Beach. The walk is held in a number
of Canadian communities to help women and children experiencing domestic violence. The Beach walk will be raising funds the Red Door Family Shelter and Nellie’s shelter, both of which are located in East Continued on Page 19
PHOTO: NATASHA JACKSON
Valerie ‘Thunderbird Woman’ Henry conducts a smudging ceremony while holding an eagle feather her uncle gifted her at last Tuesday’s National Day for Truth and Reconciliation event at Kempton Howard Park.
Ceremony at local National Day for Truth and Reconciliation a step towards healing By Natasha Jackson
TO COMMEMORATE the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on Tuesday, Sept. 30, the Blake Street Junior Public School Parent Council and local First Nations Knowledge Keepers hosted a fire ceremony at Kempton Howard Park in East Toronto. Canada held its first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on Sept. 30, 2021. Since then, many communities have found ways to observe the day. Visitors to the ceremony in Kempton Howard Park joined organizers around the sacred fire to learn about the residential school system, colonialism, and to pray for those who were affected by Indigenous assimilation. “When you’re praying today, please pray for them to have peace in their hearts. So that they can heal and they can go forward,” said Lorraine ‘Chickadee’ Theed. She is
an educator and Knowledge Keeper at Blake Street Public School and one of the organizers of the local ceremony. Additional speakers who attended the event were Toronto-Danforth MPP Peter Tabuns, TorontoDanforth Public School Trustee Sara Ehrhardt, and another educator and Knowledge Keeper from Blake Street Public School, Valerie ‘Thunderbird Woman’ Henry. “I’m hopeful that the work that started to get underway, around building self-determined urban Indigenous education at the TDSB (Toronto District School Board), can continue,” said Ehrhardt In his speech, Tabuns acknowledged the Grassy Narrows First Nation reserve in Kenora, Ont., and the lack of action taken by the provincial government regarding the pollution of their rivers by mercury poisoning from a pulp and paper company. “The situation has been going
on for decades, and one of which the government is not taking the actions requested by the community, and thus is contributing to a poisoning that will go on for many decades,” said Tabuns. Henry and Theed started Truth and Reconciliation fire ceremonies in 2021 after the discovery of the unmarked graves of the missing children from residential schools across Canada. They wanted to create a way to teach children about the history of residential schools and honour those whose lives were lost or affected by trauma. Prior to the speeches at the ceremony, cedar was wrapped around the microphone stand, one of the sacred medicines in the Medicine Wheel used for protection. The Medicine Wheel has different interpretations and teachings, however, the ways that each sacred medicine can be used is a shared common practice with all Indigenous comContinued on Page 24