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Wednesday, April 13,1994 We Asked and You Said 2 Page from the Past 3 Community Correspondence 7-10 Homeless Families Benefit from Hard Work of D.C.H.S. Students Voices Relyea Perform First Concert in St. Paul's Series by Lorraine Manfredo Durham Christian High School students came home a little exhausted exhausted but very uplifted after devoting the entire week before Easter to helping their fellow men and women. women. Every student enrolled at the school spent four days immersed in some type of community service work which brought them face to face with folks who are poor, lonely or ill. Some of these faces were found close to home while others were found south of the border. "Instead of having people from the community come to the school to tell us about their experiences in service, this year we decided to ex perience it ourselves," says Principal Principal Ren Siebcnga. Junior students were assigned to work in soup kitchens, youth drop- in centres, food banks and retirement retirement homes from Bowmanville all the way into inner-city Toronto. Grade ll's worked with the Habitat Habitat for Humanity co-operative housing housing program in Michigan cofounded cofounded by former American president, president, Jimmy Carter. Grade 12's travelled to Marly- land where they rolled up their sleeves for a home recovery project to aid the poor. "This year's theme week allowed the teens a chance to give something of themselves and learn a little about what it means to serve," Mr. Siebenga said. Theme Week has been-a tradition at Durham Christian High for the past 20 years. The teens themselves enjoyed feeling productive and useful as well as growing closer to the peers they worked beside. Grade 12 students in Cumberland Maryland were participants in the Intervention Housing program run by the Interfaith Consortium. They toiled full days, knocking down the rotted walls and crumbling roof of a condemned building, clearing the way for a second wave of volunteer renovators. In this co-operative manner, the Interfaith Consortium has been able to restore 27 homes Low income Americans will benefit from the efforts of the these Durham Christian High students who volunteered their time in Baldwin, Michigan, recently with the Habitat for Humanity project. The non-profit Christian organization is dedicated to providing shelter for poor families. Affiliates are already already established in western Canada, with new chapters being' set up in Peterborough, Oshawa, and Toronto. Toronto. Habitat homes are built entirely through volunteer labor and the prospective owners must invest 500 hours of "sweat equity" as down-payment. for low-income families in the past ten years. The blighted properties are sometimes sometimes donated by the municipality and sometimes building materials and major appliances are donated as well. "Many of the homes are given to battered women and their children ," Mr. Siebenga said. Interfaith offers counsel to the tenants who are welcome to buy the house for the price of what renovations renovations cost (usually no more than $25,000). The project is designed to encourage pride of ownership through self-sufficiency, while reclaiming reclaiming rundown neighborhoods. Students expressed regret that they couldn't stay to see the project completed. They also learned to work around cultural and generational differences at the work site as female students were intent on proving to doubtful senior organizers what they could contribute physically. Grade ll's also participated in an affordable housing program that offers offers families "a hand up instead of a hand-out." Since its inception, Habitat Habitat for Humanity has built entire communities in the United States and (more recently) in Canada, entirely entirely through the efforts of volunteers. volunteers. Prospective homeowners must invest a minimum of 500 hours "sweat equity" themselves to qualify- qualify- Durham High students erected wooden wall frames and helped install install a septic system and electrical wiring (under supervision) for a new home in the community of Baldwin, which is one of the most economically economically depressed areas in Michigan. "A quarter of the homes there don't have running water or flush toilets", says Henry Kater, Grade 11 co-ordinator. "There is no industry, industry, no jobs;!!'? " •• XThe Habitat for Humanity pro- gram was selected as an avenue for service because it is well-organized, he said. Habitat ventures are in the early stages of being established in Toronto, Oshawa and Peterborough. Grade 9 and 10 students spent the week entertaining at Strathaven Nursing home, cleaning up the Bowmanville Creek ravine, or boxing boxing food at Gate 316 in Oshawa. Some of the junior students volunteered volunteered at the Scott Mission in downtown Toronto, serving food to street people, refugees, and to the ill and homeless elderly. They cleaned tables in the cafeteria and lent an ear to clients seeking companionship. Even the teacher who accompanied accompanied the group to Toronto was moved by the desperate poverty of the people she met. "It's hard to say something about a person's life in just a moment, but it was quite an eye-opener to consider consider that some people live like this," said Johanna Hiemstra. "We wanted to serve them, to try to make even a small difference." This year's theme week experience experience taught her students that volunteering volunteering should never be grudging, she said. They learned the worth of helping others and the power of simple simple good cheer. Josh Lunshoff, Daniel Vanderhyden and Arian Kooger were jusL three of the Grade 10 students from Durham Christian High School : who helped tidy up the Bowmanville Creek ravine during a week dedicated to serving others. The theme week has been a tradition at;- the local high school for 20 years. John Halcy-Rclyca, Gary Relyea, Dcannc Relyea and Anna Tamm-Rclyca arc "Voices - Relyea." These singers, through their exuberant vocal abilities and comical moments, provided Uic subscribers subscribers at the St. Paul's United Church "Performing Arts Scries" an entertaining first concert of the season. The quartet is comprised of members of the Relyea family. Gary and Anna arc married, John is their son, and Deanna is Gary's sister. They performed a selection of songs from a number of composers, including II,R. Palmer and II,H. Godfrey. There were also show tunes such as "A Boy Like That," from West Side Story and "OP Man River," from Showboat. by Lorraine Manfredo Subsidized farming is in for some major changes in the coming coming decade, says Rob McLaughlin, McLaughlin, Dean of the Ontario Agriculture Agriculture College. More funds will likely be channeled into food production research and fewer dollars will be available for inefficient farmers, farmers, he predicts. If farmers expect the government government to invest in them, "they must be wise and invest in the new technology to survive," he said. "We will have to stop investing investing in farmers who just want a rural lifestyle." "New systems support farming not for food, but for the public or environmental good." Mr. McLaughlin was speaking speaking to members of the Bowmanville Bowmanville Rotary Club at the April 7th meeting held at the Flying Dutchman Hotel. Having been a farmer himself, as well as a research research director with the Minishy Minishy of Agriculture before joining the staff at the Guelph University, University, McLaughlin has gained a pretty good feeling for where Canada's farming culture is now, and where it is headed. "The general public is less inclined to support food farms at the level we do now," he said. An average fann family in Ontario brings in $46,000. Nearly a quarter of this income is received through government subsidies, he said, and only 17% can be attributed directly to crop revenue. Fully 60% of a typical family's income comes from off-farm sources. "Twenty-five percent of the farmers in this province arc producing producing 75% of the food produe- Rotary Club Members Hear About Farming in the Future to pay for that rural landscape repercussions on small town tion. Of that, 50% is exported." Some analysts may conclude that, because not all the food goes to feed Ontario residents, we can still afford to cut back on farms, the OAC Dean said. However, he does not advocate getting rid of the majority who aren't producing on the same scale as the biggest food producers. producers. He supports increased industrial industrial investment in small towns which would provide jobs for local residents. A secure income would allow non-farmers to remain, remain, living in the rural areas they prefer over cities. Mr. McLaughlin compared current Canadian subsidy systems systems with new concepts coming out of Europe. "The European price system for a while encouraged anybody to grow anything, which by and large led to overproduction which spilled onto the world market and ended up causing trade wars. "New systems support farming farming not for food but for the public public or environmental good, such as paying farmers to leave grain standing so wildfiowers and nesting birds can do their thing." All along die Audubon Highway Highway such fields can be seen, he said. As well, farms that lie under the fly path of rare migratory birds arc also granted subsidies not to harvest, thus ensuring flocks food on their way through, Subsidies to farmers may also be given for promoting tourism. For example, Swiss farmers willing to graze belled cows on grassy mountainsides arc rewarded because their herds create the rustic view tourists expect, "The public is more prepared or green environment than they are to support farming for food production." McLaughlin is interested in preserving rural communities in Ontario and feels this can be achieved through sound rural planning. "One in ten persons is classified classified as a rural person in Ontario. That means they come from communities with less than 5,000 residents. Yet only one of these mral residents lives on a farm. So, even in the rural areas, areas, farm folk are not in the majority." majority." Ibis new imbalance has its culture. "If we look back two or three municipal elections, we can see where we've walked away from having farmers on local council and other offices of public representation." representation." Rob McLaughlin graduated with a degree in crop sciences from the OAC in 1969, and completed his doctorate from Guelph University in 1977. The Ontario Agriculture College College is the third most intensive research university in the country, country, he told Rotarians. The bulk of that research involves food production. Rob McLaughlin (left), Dean of the Ontario Agriculture College in Guelph is, warmly thanked by the vice-president of the Bowmanville Bowmanville Rotary Club, Chuck Callran following his presentation comparing comparing the farm subsidy system in Ontario with government support in Europe. Mr. McLaughlin was the keynote speaker, at the Rotary club's Rural/Urban get-together last Thursday at the Flying Dutchman Dutchman Hotel.