What does poppy seed cake have to do with Indigenous Peoples Partnerships programs? Well, listen up. This committee started in 2012 and has developed and worked on many projects locally, provincially and beyond. Let's start with the school systems in Indigenous communities. The Indigenous schools are federally funded at 75% and there is little motivation for young people to attend school on a regular basis. On remote reserves there are 8 to 10 people living in one home and it is challenging for students to get up in the morning and get to school. The internet has been unreliable and during COVID, homework was hand delivered and picked up by the teacher, accompanied by the Chief to encourage the importance of school work. There are no high schools on the reserves and parents don't want their teenagers to leave to attend high school in Thunder Bay or Sudbury due to danger and the young age of the children being more or less on their own. Parents often cannot afford to move with their students so they become vulnerable in larger city communities due to crime and bad influences. There is limited future opportunities without an education.
Working with the communities comes with challenges as well. All projects have be approved by the Chief and Council and trust must be built between them and Rotary. The changing seasons are part of the equation as well. Summer break, Fall is hunting season, followed by Christmas break and the livelihood of ice fishing and with springtime, comes flooding and evacuation in some areas. One priority that Birgit stressed was the importance of listening to the communities and knowing what they need. Not what we think they need, but what are the local needs and how to find them out is not easy. Some of the projects include purchasing and installing ventilator fans in homes, providing clothing for children and mothers at a woman's shelter, connecting a local school here in Belleville to provide life jackets to a community in Pickle Lake as a fundraising project, Kids Against Hunger meal packing and getting those meals to Fort Hope. One of the committee's favourite projects was providing art supplies to a community of 3,000 along with bedding, clothing, medical supplies, sports equipment, winter coats, all in all half a tractor trailer full. This came together with a connection through Jared Bellemare, who we are pleased to announce will be the incoming Chair of the IPPC committee as of July 1st. The Fort Hope community had been looking for hockey skates for three years in order to start an after school program. One young child had been waiting for a pair of skates in his size and once they arrived, he taught himself to skate with the aid of a chair. He was so excited and so was the community! And the list goes on. Birgit gave credit to those before her who started some of these projects and created the committee -- the Late Dave Mullins, the Late Don Holmes, the late Elizabeth Grew, Anne Cunningham, Paige Summers, Coreen Reynolds, Timbrell Meehan, with special thanks to Jamie Trudeau whose garage is always full of something going somewhere. When volunteers arrive to pack boxes and sort things, Jamie's wife Marilyn was there with coffee and lunch refreshments. Birgit thanked other Rotary Clubs who connected with IPPC and brought financial support and new ideas.
So the story of the poppy cake. Birgit promised Past President Peter Malone a poppy cake if he was able to help her find someone to replace her as committee chair. But she didn't stop there, Birgit also promised the incumbent, Jared Bellemare, a poppy cake if he made the commitment. So that is the rest of the story.
