On Thursday June 26th, 2008 at 7:30am Frontiers Foundation held its annual breakfast, at the Flora McCrea Auditorium located in the Timothy Memorial Church. The one hundred guests in attendance enjoyed the breakfast buffet including the fresh fish from Batchawana Bay cooked by Bill Lohman, Olaf & Iolene Bjornaa. A silent auction was also held with generous donations from Mary Fox, Stephen Fenech, Reza Hakim and Ursula Jacko. The silent auction raised approximately $1,100. The Foundation also received a handful of donations such as the one from CIBC in the amount of $10,000 and $2,000 from our gracious hosts, Timothy Eaton Memorial Church.
The guest speaker this year was Gary Lipinski, President of Metis Nation of Ontario. He spoke passionately to the audience about the trials (literally) and tribulations of the Metis people and the struggle to be even recognized by the Canadian Government. Mr. Lipinski told a number of touching stories and one that stood out was that of his brother, who had no place to live with his young son and his 8 month old daughter, after the break down of his marriage. The only property available was an extremely remote island, many kilometers away from schools and all civilization in the coldest depths of winter in Northern Ontario. Mr. Lipinski painted a picture of a cold harsh winter and conditions that simply did not leave much hope for a struggling young family. He carefully pointed out the critical link between housing conditions and so many aspect of life… school, work and socialization. The message was loud and clear: a decent home in humane conditions is so critical to all aspects of life and the hope of the human spirit.
Vic Moreau - Volunteer of the YearMarco A. Guzman, Executive Director of Frontiers Foundation extended the volunteer of the year awards to Torontonians Shawn Alli who worked at Wrigley, Northwest Territories and Victor Moreau a professional electrician who improved housing conditions on a number of communities in Northern Ontario, Yukon and Haiti.
In the end there were traditional Aboriginal dancers, one jingle dress and two grass dancers in proper regalia. They explained to the audience in fascinating detail what each part of their outfit was and where their dance came from. They shared the joy and celebration that dancing brings to their life and to their culture.
Overall, the breakfast was once again a great success.