The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

6 Independent & Free Press, Tuesday,January 26, 2010 OPINION `A' for efforts We've always been impressed with the spirit of giving Halton Hills residents and businesses have demonstrated. Giving-- and giving generously-- has been a community strong point. While this may not be "news", a few recent incidents have reminded us that contributions from various groups and individuals can go a long way to making a difference to Halton Hills-- and other places, as well. On today's front page we feature a story about local nurse Meghen Verheul who is currently raising funds for a humanitarian mission to Uganda to care for children suffering from HIV/AIDS. The recent tragedy in Haiti reminded readers of the work by Georgetown's Eric Doubt, who is executive director of Healing Hands for Haiti, a group that provides medicine and rehabilitation for 800,000 Haitians with disabilities. The efforts of local residents Audrey Hoekstra and Camille Otum, who run a Haitian orphanage, were also brought to the forefront. But charitable work doesn't have to involve people thousands of miles away or millions of dollars. Organizers for the Paul Murr Memorial Golf Tournament recently handed over a cheque for $50,000 to the Acton Branch of the Canadian Cancer Society. In the 25-year history of the tourney, nearly $800,000 has been collected in the fight against cancer-- an impressive total and a tribute to the dedicated organizers and volunteers. The committee behind the Field of Dreams project-- an all-weather rubberized track and artificial sports field at Georgetown District High School-- recently celebrated the fact their community fundraising total topped $500,000. The `trigger point' for tendering to begin on the $2.1M project, was achieved in relatively quick fashion through grants and donations... and the hard work of organizers. This was an impressive fundraising effort accomplished during a recession. Finally, hats off to the Lambert family of Georgetown who used an over-the-top Christmas light display at their home to raise nearly $8,000 for the Georgetown Hospital Foundation-- money collected in a drop-box in front of their home. These efforts, both large and small, are something those involved in should be proud of. 905-873-0301 Publisher: Ken Nugent General manager: Steve Foreman (sforeman@independentfreepress.com) Retail advertising manager: Cindi Campbell (ccampbell@independentfreepress.com) Managing editor: John McGhie (jmcghie@independentfreepress.com) Distribution manager: Nancy Geissler (ngeissler@independentfreepress.com) Classifieds Kristie Pells (classified@independentfreepress.com) Accounting Rose Marie Gauthier Editorial Cynthia Gamble: News editor (cgamble@independentfreepress.com) Ted Brown: Photography (tbrown@independentfreepress.com) Lisa Tallyn: Staff writer (ltallyn@independentfreepress.com) Eamonn Maher: Staff writer/sports (emaher@independentfreepress.com) WEB POLL RESULTS Halton Hills council is expected to okay a local budget hike of 4.9% next week resulting in a tax increase of $58 for the average local property owner. Is this increase..... · Too high (67%) · Too low (11%) · About right (21%) Steve Nease Go to www.independentfreepress.com Letters to the editor Thanks for help with House Tour Dear editor, I would like to thank everyone who helped make the United Way of Halton Hills 2009 Holiday House Tour such a success. Four beautiful homes were showcased on this year's tour, and a luncheon with decorating demonstrations was held St. George's Anglican Church. Thanks to the homeowners for opening your homes to the many people who supported our event. Your hospitality was enjoyed by so many. To all the decorators, both interior and exterior (some being the homeowners themselves), thank you for your expertise, and your contributions of time and talent. Many visitors went away with fabulous decorating ideas. To the volunteers who helped in the homes on the day of the tour, thank you! You all gave our guests warm greetings and took good care of the houses. To the decorating demonstrators and vendors who gave us all great ideas and offered some wonderful items that could be purchased for Christmas, thank you! Thanks also to the local businesses that helped to sell tickets for us, purchased ads in our brochure, helped with printing and donated items to the event. And to the ladies of St. George's Anglican Church who provided our guests with a lovely lunch. Most importantly, thank you to the committee of ladies who spent countless hours coordinating this year's tour. The United Way of Halton Hills is fortunate to have so many great supporters in our caring community. Janet Foster, Executive Director, United Way of Halton Hills Zellers, they were gone right away. After visiting the store daily, we finally snagged some on Christmas Eve, but it was a close thing. Stores across Canada could have sold far more-- if they'd had any to sell. There are two big problems with these mittens. First, why are they made in China? Can no one in Canada produce Canadian mitts with Canadian fibres to help Canadian athletes? Second, it was obvious back in October that these mitts would be hugely popular. When they sold out so quickly even then, couldn't someone have given big orders to a Canadian factory or two to supplement the supply? This would have had additional benefits. No need to ship millions of mitts across an ocean from China, wasting precious fuel and contributing to global warming. And instead of importing from a country with cheap labour and dirty carbon emissions, we'd be creating jobs in our own country and, in a small way, saving the planet. Oh Canada. Janet Duval, Georgetown Letters to the editor policy Letters must include an address and daytime telephone number. Anonymous letters will not be published. Letters should not exceed 150 words and may be edited for content and/or length. E-mail: jmcghie@independentfreepress.com Mail or drop off: Independent & Free Press, 280 Guelph St., Unit 29, Georgetown, ON., L7G 4B1. A mitt-full of woe Dear editor, I think everybody in Canada wanted those Olympic mittens from Zellers and The Bay this Christmas. Woolly red with a maple leaf on the palm and a toasty flannel lining inside, they made great gifts and supported our Olympic athletes. Trouble was, you could never find them. Whenever a batch came into The Independent & Free Press The Independent & Free Press is published Tuesday and Thursday and is one of several Metroland Media Group Ltd. community newspapers. Editorial and advertising content of The Independent & Free Press is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited.