Fenelon Falls for First Peoples group recognized by the Anishinabek Nation

By Rick Garrick

The Fenelon Falls for First Peoples volunteer group were recognized by the Anishinabek Nation for their donations of clothing and other items during an appreciation lunch on June 12. The volunteer group worked with Grand Council Chief Glen Hare over the past two years to collect clothing and other items for distribution to Anishinabek Nation communities.

“We are still in very good working relations with Elva Potter (organizer of the volunteer group) in Fenelon Falls,” Hare says. “They are having their annual celebration today and I had a couple of my staff down there to deliver and give to Mrs. Potter a certificate from the Anishinabek Nation because all the clothing, the donations and whatever else that she has given to our communities is so awesome.”

Hare says he plans to deliver a load of donations from the volunteer group during an upcoming visit to the Northern Superior Region.

“I do have three events in the Superior Region coming up and I want to take a load up there on the same trip,” Hare says, noting that he told the chiefs he wanted to continue working with the volunteers to deliver donations of clothing and other items to Anishinabek Nation citizens. “There is tremendous work down there on their end to get everything ready, but when we get to the communities the faces that I see, the smiles and some tears, it is all worth the cause. Chi-Meegwetch to all the Elders and the people who do help to donate.”

Potter and the other volunteers were surprised to be presented with the award by Anishinabek Nation staff members Rebecca Timms and Cecile Hookimaw.

“They gave us an award, a plaque, thanking us for everything we had done and that was a shock to us — that was very nice,” Potter says. “It was exciting because we didn’t have any idea they were doing that, but apparently Glen was the one that wanted it done. People came from all over — they were from Cobourg and Orillia and Peterborough and all over.”

Timms and Hookimaw brought back a truck load of donations from Fenelon Falls after the appreciation lunch.

“Everybody was bringing a load of stuff with them, so we just loaded a truck to go back up with (Timms and Hookimaw),” Potter says. “So now we have a trailer starting to fill up again and it keeps on going.”

Hare began picking up the clothing and other items that were collected by the volunteers from communities across southern Ontario for distribution to Anishinabek Nation communities when he was Deputy Grand Council Chief.

“The last truck load we delivered (was) to Dilico Anishinabek Family Care in Thunder Bay,” Hare says. “That was a 29-foot U-Haul truck. There was bicycles, there was wheelchairs, there was clothing, just a mixture of everything. It’s really growing, it’s really nice.”

Hare says the delivery of donations to Dilico Anishinabek Family Care was “a big one for us.”

“It reaches out to all the people, the young and old in the city and Fort William and neighbouring communities,” Hare says. “I want to keep that up with the staff and with Fenelon Falls.”

Potter says the volunteer group consists of six people who do all of the packing of the clothing and other items in Fenelon Falls and about 50 other people who collect the donations from communities across southern Ontario. They store the donations in a truck box that was bought by one of the volunteers.