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www.petespaint.ca Vol. 11, Issue 22
Wednesday, July 1, 2020
Local mayors look to Province for solutions
DR. STEVE
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519-326-8413 Three members of the June 27th Miracle Leamington leadership team on Saturday at the Unico rink inside the Nature Fresh Farms Recreation Centre, from left are Vita Fiore, Mike Diab and Christine Montgomery. Sun photo
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June 27th Miracle a roaring success
WINDSOR-ESSEX — The June 27th volunteers scoured the streets of LeamMiracle organizers had their eyes on a ington to bring those goods in. world record for a one day food drive In Kingsville, the drill was about the and while the numbers are still being same with numerous volunteers driving tabulated, they can easily classify it as a up and down the streets and returning roaring success. goods to drop-off locations at Kendrick Volunteers across Windsor-Essex Funeral Home and Pelee Island Winery. have filled arena floors to the brim with All food collected locally stays within non-perishables donated by the people the community first, and then will be of Windsor-Essex. funneled elsewhere once the local comMike Diab, who is the June 27th Mir- munity’s food banks and other charities acle Leamington leader, was quick to are full. speak of the generosity of others. For Diab, this three week whirlwind “So many local companies have has been hard work, but rewarding. stepped up to help,” he said. He’s no stranger to giving “The “The generosity of this comout food to people who need munity is outstanding.” generosity it. His Christmas ‘Talking “Where COVID may have Over Turkey’ giveaway has of this separated us physically, it rebecome a very popular charally has brought us closer to- community is ity event in Leamington. gether,” he said. All told, over 10,000 volunoutstanding.” Diab and his crew of about teers participated in the June 200 volunteers at the Unico — Mike Diab 27th Miracle in Windsor and Arena took in truckload after Essex County. The original truckload of non-perishable ‘Miracle’ idea was the brainitems that local residents had left on child of James Rasmussen of Chathamtheir doorsteps on Saturday. Kent, who led a group of dedicated inOne of those volunteers was Vita dividuals through the May 16th Miracle Fiore, who led the sorting and packing there. crew inside the Unico rink. She stressed Locally, the idea was picked up by that they still need help. Josh Lane and a number of other vol“Anyone wanting to help pack and unteers and organized in the matter of sort this week and next, please come about three weeks. to the back Zamboni door of the Unico A finalized weight of what was colrink between 9 am and 9 pm Monday lected locally and throughout Windsorthrough Friday,” she said. “We still have Essex will be available for next week’s lots to do.” paper, as well as a list of the companies And while those volunteers worked that stepped up to help the cause. tirelessly in the heat inside, another 200
By Mark Ribble LEAMINGTON/KINGSVILLE — Hilda MacDonald and Nelson Santos each spoke with Ontario Premier Doug Ford last week, and both came away with a renewed optimism. Leamington’s Mayor MacDonald was able to drive her point home that the small businesses of her municipality need financial aid now and Premier Ford was receptive to her pleas. “I told him that we need immediate funding for small business here,” she said. “Not a loan either, and we need it fast.” Ford agreed that he would look into funding for the small businesses in both municipalities. MacDonald suggested that the province put a ‘band’ or ‘bubble’ around the agri-food industry and let the rest of the community open up to Stage 2. “He said an announcement would be coming soon,” she said. As for restaurants in Leamington, MacDonald said she has had preliminary discussions with administration about getting patios approved quickly. “We want to make things as easy and uncomplicated as possible,” she said. As for testing, MacDonald is still a big proponent of getting the agri-food workers tested, despite what County Warden, Gary McNamara said last week. “We have no better option than testing available to us,” she said. McNamara, speaking as Chair of the Windsor-Essex Health Unit last week, said that massive testing would not help, only hinder the numbers. Santos agrees with MacDonald that mass testing is the way to go. “That’s the protocol,” he said. “Our goal is safety for the community and we cannot fail in the health and vitality of our citizens.” Santos pointed out that, while mass testing could bring higher numbers of positive cases, it also brings higher number of negative cases. “That’s real information that will help us in our fight,” he said. Santos says that Kingsville is ready, once they get the word. “Council has already agreed to close the main streets in certain areas to allow larger patios for the businesses,” he said. The two mayors both spoke to the importance of accommodation for those agri-food workers who test positive and say they have had preliminary discussions with area hotels to provide that. Late last week, Mayor MacDonald’s April emails to Dr. Wajid Ahmed of the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit were made public and those emails shed a light on MacDonald’s attempts to get the health unit to proactively turn its attention to the agri-food issues. LOCAL BUSINESSES JOIN FORCES On Tuesday, June 30, a large gathering of business owners, local leaders and residents gathered at Carnegie Hall in Kingsville to show solidarity in asking the province to open up the two municipalities. See our photo on Page 2.
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