Celebrating The Past - Shaping The Future (Click here for anniversary pictures)
It was a great pleasure to be able to acknowledge five Past Presidents at the luncheon: Les May from 1969 - 1972; Barbara Roberton from 1974 - 1976; Diane Morgan from 1990 - 1992; Lorne Aronson from 1992 - 2002; and Debra Pelletier from 2002 - 2008, the leaders who guided us to where we are today. We really enjoyed our photo op as we all cut our anniversary cake. We were so pleased to have in attendance Shane Kazushner, on behalf of the Trillium Foundation. The Ontario Trillium Foundation, one of Canada's leading grant making foundations, is an agency of the Government of Ontario. The Foundation's mission is to build healthy and vibrant communities throughout Ontario by strengthening the voluntary sector. Shane mentioned how rewarding it was to actually meet with members of an organization that had benefited from a grant. We all recognize the important role played by the ET's in our lives and, we were fortunate to have Karen Bruton, RNET, President Elect of the Canadian Association of Enterostomal Therapists, to personally bring greetings on behalf of CAET. She recognized the work being done in the community by Ostomy Toronto and hoped that the spirit of cooperation with the ET's will continue. This is a sentiment with which we all agree, and look forward to our continued relationship with Karen and all the members of CAET. Les Kehoe a member of the Executive Committee of UOAC brought greetings on behalf of Mike Woolridge, President UOAC. Les stressed the importance of the long term relationship between Ostomy Toronto and UOAC, and on the lighter side, reflected on how he and Lorne had physically moved the office twice. Both organizations continue to share office space on Bloor Street, and our next joint adventure will be replacing the carpet. Gentlemen, I can see that you will be busy moving furniture again! Our Vice President Lorne Aronson did an outstanding job as he took us through the highlights of the history of Ostomy Toronto; introducing our Past Presidents as their term of office arose. Each President reflected on the highlights of their term in office - all moving the association forward. Les May through to the term of the last President Debra Pelletier is a period of some thirty nine years. What splendid work from such dedicated volunteers. As Lorne concluded his tour through history, he invited Maria Jose Bouey to the podium. What a delightful young lady! It is some years since I had seen Maria Jose; then she was twelve years old and was attending a special school for the Performing Arts, now she's 'all grown up' but with the same vivaciousness that she has shown throughout her life - ill health and multiple operations included. She shared with us the fact that her mother had given her a kidney and, although it was a struggle to deal with the transplant, she prevailed and now is in college in Toronto. She is also a volunteer helping in fund raising opportunities, so we look forward to working with her to promote Ostomy Toronto over the coming years. As Lorne had reflected on the past, and Maria Jose bridged the path to the future, Robert Wychers introduced us to our Keynote Speaker - Jessica Grossman. Many of you will remember that Jessica was featured in an article in Ostomy Canada. We had asked Jessica to speak about the future for Ostomy Toronto in light of the fact that we have not been successful in attracting young people. Her presentation focused on what we need to do to get young people involved in Ostomy Toronto. She began her presentation by telling us about herself, so that we could get to know her point of view. Despite a history of ongoing attacks of Crohn's disease that made her life almost unbearable, she persevered, and made the difficult decision to have ostomy surgery. Jessica has not looked back; she is in university, confident, articulate, and with dynamic ideas as to where Ostomy Toronto can move in the future. We spoke after her presentation as to how we can work together involving the other young people such as Maria Jose. We have to keep in mind that these young people are still in school and so their time is limited. We are all determined however that we will work toward including young people in the services of Ostomy Toronto. There was a further young person, Anita Ouellette, who joined us for lunch in the company of her mother, Julianna. This young 12 year old was sponsored by Ostomy Toronto to the Ostomy Youth Camp in Alberta. It was just great to see young people laughing and enjoying the day. We in Ostomy Toronto do not present awards on a yearly basis; in fact it is generally every five years. For our 50th Anniversary we announced three awards. The John Thompson for Outstanding Leadership Award was presented by Lorne Aronson to Debra Pelletier for her work over her term as President. Debra created a set of policies and procedures for our organization, got us started on the Trillium Grant, and began communication with the CCAC (Community Care Access Centres). Debra also organized the questionnaire regarding the Assistive Devices Programme, which will be used as a basis for Ostomy Toronto's advocacy work in the immediate future. Dr. Greg Olscamp for Outstanding Medical Service Award was to be presented by Dianne Garde to Dr Fred Saibil MD, FRCPC. Division of Gastroenterology at the Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre. He is also an Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Toronto. Dr Saibil is a regular presenter at our meetings and is always prepared to answer any questions. Dr Saibil is the author of a book, "Crohn's Disease and Ulcerative Colitis" which has sold 60,000 copies worldwide. Fred Saibil, became interested in Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis during his training at Mount Sinai Medical Centre in New York City, a world centre for IBD treatment and research. His straightforward, easy to understand style has made him a popular public lecturer on the subject of IBD. Dr Saibil was unable to be with us as he was out of the country but we will make sure that he will receive his award upon his return. The first ever Mary Bigelow Outstanding Hospitality Service Award was presented by Di Bracken. This award honours the work and fortitude of Mary Bigelow. Mary was an early member of Ostomy Toronto and a force over many years that helped to develop the volunteer spirit of the organization. Despite her serious health concerns, Mary came to epitomize the very essence of being a volunteer. We in Ostomy Toronto were proud to present this trophy, in her name, to two very special volunteers Jean Perrin and Muriel Kinnear. Both of these amazing women personify what it is to be a volunteer. They take time from their personal lives and dedicate themselves to serving others. If you have attended an Ostomy Toronto meeting, you have been the beneficiary of the comfort provided by their homemade delicacies. As you can well imagine, carrying out the work of Ostomy Toronto, including hosting this luncheon, requires financial support. We have been most fortunate to have received funding from the following sponsors: • Platinum Sponsors - ConvaTec, Hollister Limited, Starkman Surgical Supply Inc. • Gold Sponsor - Coloplast • Community Sponsor - The Ontario Trillium Foundation. Thank you to Neil Lucy of Ontario Ostomy Supply for the lovely bouquet of flowers which was so special. Some light relief was provided by Lorne Aronson who conducted the auction. We would like to thank all of our members, their friends and family, who provided the wonderful auction items that enabled us to raise $1200. At the close of the luncheon, it was my honour to propose the toast to Ostomy Toronto for fifty very successful years. A successful event is only made possible through the hard work and dedication of the planning committee. I would like to express my appreciation and thanks to the team led by Robert Wychers, Chair; Lorne Aronson, Dianne Garde, Dan Pelletier, Ranjit Hira. I would also like to recognize the extra work completed by Carol Rodda who runs our office. A great job folks. Well done. To all our readers, I wish you all the very best. Stay well. Di Dielwen Bracken |
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