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AMIERA BLACK PAGE
STRATFORD VOLUME 2 • ISSUE 8
17 FREE
MARCH 2023
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Optimism Place launches new creative fundraiser to bring art to blank walls
LISA CHESTER
Stratford Times Correspondent
Optimism Place, a refuge for women and their children who have experienced abuse, has launched a creative new fundraiser called Artists Inspiring Hope and Healing. Through this initiative, donors can purchase pieces of art to hang on the walls of the newly renovated and expanded shelter later this year. This inspired method of fundraising is meant to elevate the soon to be 12,000 square feet of wall space. “Our community has always been really supportive of us, and it was important that we support our local community so this is a really creative fundraiser that allows us to have art on our walls and is an opportunity for artists to create art with the women who stay here in mind,” said Donna Jean Forster, financial manager for Optimism Place. The art featured for sale is produced by Perth County artists; 25 artists have submitted 70 works for this creative fundraiser. The pieces vary in size and subject and are created with the inspiration of hope and healing for the women and children in mind. Interested donors can purchase the piece of their choice with the intent that it will hang in a bedroom or shared area to inspire hope and healing to those living there. The proceeds of the sale are paid to the artists for their work, and a tax receipt is issued by Optimism Place to the donor along with a thank you letter. A plaque will be installed on the wall with the donor’s name next to the artwork donated. CONTINUED TO PAGE 2
(AMANDA MODARAGAMAGE PHOTO)
READING FOR CHARITY
Isabella Martchenko, in her family home, reading "The Mouse Mansion '' by Karina Schaapman.
Six-year-old “Izzy The Bookworm” is on track to raise $15,000 for MS by April of this year
AMANDA MODARAGAMAGE Times Correspondent
Canada has one of the world's highest rates of Multiple Sclerosis (MS), but Isabella (Izzy) Martchenko wants to change that and is starting to do so with her love of reading. Izzy has been reading between 50 and 75 books a year since she was 4
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years old through the MS Read-athon program. Her goal this year is to raise $5,000 for the initiative, bringing her total to over $15,000 over the last three years. Diagnosed in 2018 with Multiple Sclerosis, Izzy’s mom, Lindsey Martchenko, was excited to learn that the MS Readathon was still running. She decided to sign Izzy up when she
was only 4 years old. “I was excited because Izzy could raise money, and she loved books!” Martchenko states. Within the first year, Izzy had read 75 books and raised $10,000 for MS. She’s happy to be able to raise money for a good cause all while supporting her mom, “I’m extremely happy [to be involved], and I love CONTINUED TO PAGE 5
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