durhamregion.com

EDITORIAL: Hometown hero: Newcastle’s Tara Watchorn

    Greeting hometown hero Tara Watchorn in Newcastle was just as exciting as watching her hockey team capture gold last week in Sochi, Russia.

    Ms. Watchorn, who gave up figure skating at age four to give hockey a try, saw the loop close on her Olympic dream when she returned home Tuesday night to a jubilant, proud crowd of Clarington supporters.
    A crowd assembled on the Mill Street bridge brought it all home -- for Tara and the many Clarington residents who have cheered her from the start -- before Ms. Watchorn, still wearing her hard-earned gold medal in women’s hockey, waded into the crowd for photos and words of encouragement.
    Her favourite moment at the Olympics was seeing Canada’s flag being raised and hearing the national anthem after the women’s team won gold in a thrilling come-from-behind win against a talented U.S. team. Ours too.
    It’s hard to imagine the overwhelming pride Ms. Watchorn’s parents feel in seeing their daughter fully realize her hockey and Olympic dreams. They, along with their son, Tyler, are Ms. Watchorn’s most committed fans.
    Those who weren’t able greet Ms. Watchorn Tuesday night get another opportunity to congratulate her on Saturday at the Newcastle Community Hall, where she’ll be spending time from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. with community supporters and signing autographs.
    And isn’t that typical? Rather than take time to reflect and recover from the rigours of international competition and long flights, Ms. Watchorn is making sure to make time for the community.
    And it’s not as if she’s got nothing to do. After a brief rest at home -- if that’s what one can call it -- she’s jetting off to Calgary for a post-Olympics de-briefing and to participate in team events. After that, she hopes to do some fundraising for multiple sclerosis, a disease her mother lives with.
    Before she heads off to a bright future and boundless opportunities, let us once more acknowledge her golden effort in Sochi, let us congratulate her for her achievement, and let us wish her every success.
    She’s a hometown girl who brought a childhood dream to life and in doing so, took us along with her.
    Way to go, Tara.

    -- Clarington This Week

East Clarington Food Bank growing to feed the hunger in Newcastle

New downtown location helps food bank meet growing demand

Jennifer O’Meara
jomeara@durhamregion.com

CLARINGTON -- With a growing number of families needing help to feed their families, the East Clarington Food Bank has moved to a new, larger building in the heart of downtown Newcastle.

    “It’s almost bittersweet when you have to have a bigger location to serve the needs of your community,” said food bank manager Karen Briden.
    At almost 1,000 square feet, the new home of the food bank, at 123 King St. W., is twice the size of the previous location.
    The new location is on the main level, making it accessible for clients with mobility issues and making it easier for volunteers to unload food donations. It’s also a more central location, on the main street of downtown Newcastle, which is on the bus route.  
    “It’s fabulous. It’s fabulous for the village,” said Councillor Wendy Partner, who represents the area.
    The East Clarington Food Bank, which covers the area from the Northumberland-Clarington border to Lambs Road in Bowmanville, provides food to almost 100 families a month. That number is up from 56 families a month in 2010.
    “The best wish I could give you is, I hope you have fewer and fewer customers,” said Mayor Adrian Foster.
    For several years, the East Clarington Food Bank board has been planning to move to a larger, more accessible space. However the actual move came together rather quickly.
    The food bank got notice from the landlord that a new tenant was interested in their previous space. They approached the Newcastle and District Chamber of Commerce for help finding a new location.
    “The chamber came back in a day to say this place might be (available). It all happened in a month. It’s been crazy,” said Karen Fisher, chairwoman of the food bank board.
    Poverty isn’t always obvious in Clarington, according to Ms. Briden. But there are many working families who do not have enough income to cover their expenses. Food is one of the most flexible household expenses, and it is often nutrition that suffers when money is tight, according to Food Banks Canada.
    Eight per cent of Durham Region households are food insecure, meaning they worry about running out of food, must compromise the quality and/or quantity of food they eat, and must reduce their food intake, according to a 2012 publication from the health department at the Region of Durham.     
    The Clarington East Food Bank accepts walk-ins. New visitors are asked to fill out an application, but they leave that day with food. The Newcastle food bank lets clients chose between tea and coffee, or negotiate to leave one item they don’t need in exchange for more of a grocery item they use a lot of.
    The East Clarington Food Bank is only able to run with donations, both food and financial, and with the help of volunteers.
    The food bank is the only tenant of the new building, which means there will be no one on site to accept food donations left outside the door during the evenings. Ms. Fisher is asking that donations be made within business hours at the food bank location, or after hours at the bins within the local grocery stores.
    Ms. Briden said the organization does need volunteers capable of heavy lifting. Most volunteers come in once a month.  
    The increased size and prime location means the food bank board will be paying more in rent for the new building. However Ms. Fisher said the rent is fair and the board has generous donations from a variety of sources.
    “The food bank has had great support from the community. It’s the community looking after the community,” said Regional Councillor Willie Woo.
    For more information on the Clarington East Food Bank visit the organization’s web site, www.claringtoneastfoodbank.ca, or Facebook page.

Lots of white stuff won’t leave Oshawa in the red on snow budget

Budget includes $800,000 top-up for winter maintenance reserve

Reka Szekely
rszekely@durhamregion.com

    OSHAWA -- A rough winter means some municipalities may end up in the red on their snow budgets but Oshawa officials say the City should be fine.
    Nicole Pincombe, the City’s treasurer, explains that Oshawa has a winter maintenance reserve capped at $1 million in addition to the budget for winter maintenance. When a winter has fewer snowfalls, money in the winter maintenance budget is transferred to the reserve.
    “Those years where our winters are above average we would draw money from the reserve into the operating budget to offset the costs associated with an above-average winter,” she said.
    In 2013, the City budgeted $3.5 million for winter maintenance and the final costs are expected to be about $600,000 higher than that. The difference will be drawn from the reserve.
    Winter maintenance budgets are based on a five-year average and the City is projecting to spend $3.7 million in 2014. Because of the rough winter this season, the 2014 budget includes an additional $800,000 contribution to the winter reserve to top up that fund. Normally the City does not contribute to the reserve through the budget process.
    The numbers are still coming in but Ms. Pincombe said she didn’t believe the winter maintenance reserve would be fully exhausted at the end of 2013. She also believes the City is prepared for 2014, which not only includes this winter but November and December at the end of the year.
    Ms. Pincombe points out that municipalities are still waiting to hear back from the Province regarding disaster funding for the December ice storm. Some of the ice storm clean up costs will be part of the 2014 budget.
    “We’re hoping they will contribute to the costs because there were extraordinary costs the municipalities faced in having to respond to and clean up from the storm,” she said.