WEDNESDAY
S I N C E
JULY 10, 2013 Vol. 118, Issue 107
105
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1 8 9 5
Special Olympians off to provincials Page 9
INCLUDING G.S.T.
PROUDLY SERVING THE COMMUNITIES OF ROSSLAND, WARFIELD, TRAIL, MONTROSE, FRUITVALE & SALMO
Canada Post franchise plan in hands of politicians BY SHERI REGNIER Times Staff
VALERIE ROSSI PHOTO
Trail resident Sharon Jackson gets giddy when she thinks about what a Bag of Love can offer a child in transition. Her basement has turned into operation headquarters for a growing cause.
Bags of Love provide more than items Charity gospel concert digs deep for children in need BY VALERIE ROSSI Times Staff
Gospel artists are adding their voices to a local cause that adds comfort during a difficult time. The Trail Seventh-day Adventist Church, with help from active Castlegar members, has spent the last year bringing local children in need Bags of Love, a care package donated to children who've had their lives uprooted. Peter Makortoff, Leanne Harrison, Rob Green and Jim Halpin are ready to perform a free will donation Gospel Charity Concert at the East Trail church on July 14 at 2 p.m. with all donations going to these hand-sewn, grab bags full of life essentials. “I just get so excited,” squealed Trail resident Sharon Jackson, as she moves from one end of her basement to the next (nearly every inch storing dona-
tions for the cause). Boxes full of hand-made quilts, donated lightly used stuffies and once loved hot wheel cars are stacked next to organized piles of hygiene materials, story books and more. Jackson's basement is where the bags are created with the child's age in mind (from newborns to 17 year olds). It feels a little like Santa's workshop, an operation that has brought smiles and comfort in an otherwise dark and confusing time. “Right now it's just children and children who are in transition, children who are going to a more secure living environment,” she explained. “Sometimes when they leave they can't take a lot of stuff with them so that's why we give a bag so they've got something of their own to take with them. “It's like being able to take something that only belongs to them and that they can keep on taking with them.”
Though Bags of Love started as a one-woman project in 2005 through the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Kentucky, it has now spread across the United States and has just started to crop up in Canada with five chapters in B.C. and one in Alberta. When the potential for a Trail chapter presented itself in 2012, Jackson jumped on board. Now serving Trail and Castlegar, she said the overwhelmingly positive response will eventually lead to the expansion into Nelson, Grand Forks and Creston. Since its inception last year, the local organization has already given out 40 bags. “It didn't take long to fill my basement with donations,” said the local coordinator. “People have been so generous and supportive of this ministry. “The thing they like most about (it) is that the bags stay in the West Kootenay region.” See DONATIONS, Page 3
In a bid to keep Canada Post from privatizing its Trail location, the postal workers union has completed its own mailing campaign and is waiting for the results. In February, Canada Post issued a letter of notification to the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) citing its intent to open a privately-owned postal franchise in downtown Trail. At that time, the union had 90 days to offer another option that would be viable and costeffective. To that end, every house in Trail was sent a card that informed residents of the impending change and asked for support. “Everyone in Trail received a postage-free card to fill out that said ‘Save our Post Office,’” said Ed Evans, CUPW Local 842. The cards were mailed directly to Robert Aubin, the NDP MP who serves as critic responsible for Canada Post. “This is a politically motivated issue,” said Evans. “If the Harper government says ‘I don’t care what the public says’ and decides to (privatize) post offices, then he will be on the hot seat for that decision. “The cards of support that everyone has mailed in will be ammo in (the opposition’s) back pocket.” Even if the public responds with overwhelming support to keep Canada Post locations status quo, the subject itself could become a hot-button issue for the government when the House of Commons reconvenes in the fall. “This is not just a union issue,” said Alex Atamanenko, MP for B.C. Southern Interior. “The current government is all about farming out jobs to retail outlets and not worrying about good pay or benefits.” Atamanenko said that preserving Canada Post locations is a community issue that needs support from the local chamber and council to send the message that “further cuts on the backs of rural communities is not acceptable. “We have to watch this because it could be one of those sleeper issues that all of a sudden we wake up and find they have done it,” he said. The Canada Post Corporation came into force as a crown corporation in 1981 with a mandate to set a ‘new direction’ for the postal service, and create a reliable service that ensures the postal service’s financial security See TRENDS, Page 3
Contact the Times: Phone: FineLine250-368-8551 Technologies 62937 Index 9 Fax:JN250-368-8550 80% 1.5 BWR NU Newsroom: 250-364-1242
Ron & Darlene
Your Local Home Team 110 Kootenay Ave
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