Summit place resident and treasurer of the residents’ council John Armstrong, former past president of the residents’ council Marion Watson and Mindy Hamill, the wife of pastor David Hamill of the Brethren in Christ Church, proudly stand by the donations the home raised to support the Church’s March break mission.
Summit Place helping Haitian earthquake victims
Residents, family, staff at Owen Sound home donate 300 pounds of items
Wednesday March 10, 2010 -- Lisa Bailey
An outpouring of help for young Haitian earthquake victims demonstrates the compassion that ripples through the long-term care community, most recently at Summit Place Retirement Community in Owen Sound.

“They just wanted to give, wanted to do something,” program manager Shirley MacLeod says of residents who, together with staff and family members, are donating about 300 pounds of clothes and other items to an orphanage in the Dominican Republic overflowing with children from neighbouring quake-ravaged Haiti.

“The whole facility chipped in,” MacLeod says.

The donated items, ranging from sleeper outfits and blankets to writing materials and toiletries, will be distributed by a group from Brethren in Christ Church in Stayner, led by Pastor David Hamill and his wife, Mindy. Their March break mission was planned before the massive earthquake struck Jan. 12.

Responding to posters placed around the retirement and long-term care home, Summit Place’s residents’ council donated $100. Three long-term care residents and staff purchased items with the money, such as facecloths which, MacLeod says, will be included in hygiene kits assembled by Brethren in Christ’s youth group. Footwear for little feet were also bought as children in these two poor nations don’t always have matching shoes, MacLeod says.

Residents’ family members as well as Summit Place staff also contributed to the 16-day drive, which ended March 5. For example, MacLeod notes, a retired educator whose parents are long-term care residents gave writing materials.

“The teacher in her definitely came out,” MacLeod says.

Staff, among other things, donated money which will buy rice, beans and powdered milk once the church group reaches their destination.

Rallying for others is part of the culture of caring at Summit Place where, for example, food drives for the Salvation Army are held three times a year.

“We like to reach out to the community,” MacLeod says, noting everyone from the executive director on down embraced the Haitian appeal with “an unbelievable response.”

She attributed that, in part, to the fact that the widely publicized disaster has touched people on the most basic human levels; it occurred in one of the world’s most impoverished nations and affected so many including orphans and children.

There’s also the notion that everyone can contribute.

“There’s a sense of worth, that even if you are in long-term care and you might be physically limited in some ways, you can still do something for someone else,” MacLeod says.

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