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Lord Dufferin IODE launching Christmas fundraiser to support food bank, hospital

November 20, 2020   ·   0 Comments

By Mike Baker

The ladies at the Lord Dufferin IODE are pressing ahead with a special Christmas fundraiser designed to raise money for the Orangeville Food Bank and Headwaters Health Care Centre. 

Speaking to the Citizen this week, Dori Ebel said the local IODE chapter had once again teamed up with 10 & 10 Garden Centre, this time to offer festive plants to local residents. Featured in a decorative Christmas-themed plant pot, locals will be able to purchase a Kalanchoe for $20, with all money raised being invested right back into the community. 

“This was a very last minute thing for us, but we feel it’s important that we try to help out our local hospital and food bank as much as we can during these difficult times,” Ms. Ebel told the Citizen. “Every year we commit a certain amount of money to these organizations, well this year we’ve been hit a little hard by the pandemic. We haven’t been able to host our fashion shows, or do some other things we’ve done over the years. Typically we’ll give between $8,000 and $10,000 to our community. It’s going to be difficult to do that this year.”

That’s where 10 & 10 Garden Centre stepped in. The organization partnered with IODE for their annual geranium fundraiser earlier this year, and were happy to team up once again. They committed to supplying 200 plants for the fundraiser, at cost, with local residents able to pick up their orders at their facility, located at 634026 Highway 10 in Mono, on Dec. 10 and Dec. 11. 

The ladies at IODE have sold approximately half of the plants so far, with 100 more still available. 

“These plants will make for really nice, decorative centre pieces on people’s dinner table over Christmas. They’re very colourful, and come in a very nice pot,” Dori said.

In total, the Lord Dufferin IODE hopes to bring in approximately $2,000 from this fundraiser. 

“Basically, we’re just following suit with the way IODE has always operated. Our purpose is to give back to our community as much as we possibly can. This year, we’ve already donated to Family Transition Place, we’ve given to the hospital, and to the library,” Dori said. “Obviously it’s not been as much as previous years, but this is not a normal year. Still, we want to step up and do what little we can.”

She added, “We know the food bank and the hospital have been hit hard by this. They haven’t been able to hold their regular fundraisers, so every little thing that groups like us can do at this point help to make a difference.”

Anyone interested in purchasing a Kalanchoe plant and pot should contact Dori at 519-941-1865, Jessica at 519-307-2088, or Faye at 519-938-1564, or email the general Lord Dufferin IODE email at lorddufferiniode@gmail.com. Each plant can be purchased for $20, and will be available for pick-up on Dec. 10 and Dec. 11. 

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