June 27 Miracle makes another giant impact

By Mark Ribble

REGIONAL — Although done a little differently than last year, the June 27 Miracle took place on Sunday with hundreds of volunteers across the region collecting, sorting and distributing non-perishables to help those in need.

Last year’s event collected over two million pounds of donations, but this year’s tallies won’t be known for a few days.

Volunteers behind the scene sorting non-perishables.

SUN photos

Locally, Angel Renaud led the Leamington area group, coordinating from her spot at the Royal Lepage office parking lot on Erie Street South.

Royal Lepage broker Patricia Pedreira was instrumental in helping to free up space for donations, and allowed her trailers to be used for transport of goods to a central location.

Both Renaud and Pedreira were heavily involved in last year’s Leamington collection at the Unico rink of the rec complex.

Leamington’s part in the June 27 Miracle was led by Angel Renaud and her team, who posed in front of the Royal Lepage office on Erie Street South. In front are Angel Renaud and Patricia Pedreira. In the back are Dustin Kossom, Mike Diab and Tammy Szusz.

There were four drop locations in Leamington where volunteers gathered to empty their vehicles before setting out on another collection.

Besides the Royal Lepage office, St. Michael’s Church parking lot also saw heavy traffic from volunteers, as did the Sun Parlour Curling Club and a trailer at Mersea Park.

“The trailer at Mersea Park was filled right to the top,” said Angel Renaud. “We couldn’t have packed another box into it.”

Renaud says overall tallies won’t be available for a few days, once all of the committees across the county and city come together.

Among the hundreds of volunteers across Windsor-Essex, was the Dunford family, represented here by Warren and Cheryle Dunford, flanking their grandson Sebastian.