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

6 Independent & Free Press, Tuesday,June 29, 2010 OPINION a Summer warnings With area schools now out for the summer holidays and local students about to enjoy the next two months free from educational constraints, we hope local adults take heed on two fronts. First, summertime should be a time of fun for area youngsters. However, that time of fun also means a time of heightened attentiveness for drivers. It takes only a split second for a tragedy to occur. Area kids will be out in full force over the next couple months on bikes, skateboards, Rollerblades and on foot. That means drivers should use extra caution when traversing our roadways. A moment's distraction on either the part of a youngster on a bicycle or a driver can spell disaster. Secondly, a new survey by the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario found the majority of kids in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) will be missing out on physical activity this summer, as parents scramble to find child care solutions once school is out. According to the Heart and Stroke Foundation, parents face the harsh realities of juggling cost, safety and work schedules over finding solutions that allow their kids to be active. The survey found that working and cashstrapped parents of school-age kids placed greater importance on finding programs that are affordable, convenient or safe than ones that promoted physical activity. With child obesity rates hovering near 28 per cent in Ontario the survey found only one in five children will be spending time swimming, one in seven in day camps, and one in eight in organized sports this summer. It is incumbent upon governments at both the provincial and municipal levels to develop processes, both through the public and private sector, to make it easier for parents to make healthy choices for their kids and to ensure physical activity is part of their children's lives-- whether they are in school or out. 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 Do you support Halton municipalities incorporating bicycle lanes into any future plans for area roadways? · Yes (67%) · No (33%) Steve Nease Go to www.independentfreepress.com Letters to the editor Student is eager to give back Dear editor, As a Grade 10 student at Christ the King, I was able to participate in the YPI project. The YPI (Youth Philanthropy Initiative) project is an opportunity for Grade 10 civics students to pick a charity they are interested in, create a dynamic presentation and have the chance to compete against their classmates to win $5,000 for the charity they chose. My group chose to represent Halton Women's Place, which provides area women with safe shelter, counselling and many other forms of support. Through working with this charity and YPI, I learned more about myself, being an active citizen and a goodrole model to other students as well as becoming more aware of social issues. The reason I am writing to you is I have decided to take the YPI project off of school campus and into my community! My 16th birthday is right around the corner and I am hosting a huge birthday bash with all of my friends. In lieu of getting gifts, I will collect donations which will be given to Halton Women's Place (in the form of gift certificates for grocery stores) for their clients when they leave the shelters. I would like to say thank you to Halton Women's Place for supporting the project and for their outstanding efforts in the community and Mrs. Campanelli, my Civics teacher, for giving me the opportunity to realize that I really can make a difference in my community and for giving me the chance to be the best citizen I can possibly be. I will continue to raise awareness and be a leader and hopefully get more of my peers to do the same! Alex Brennan, Georgetown all ages, face painters, pledgers and walkers, you make this walk a success. A special thank you to our local talented D.J., Salty Dog aka Andrew Salt and comic juggler Craig Douglas and Michael the bagpiper who led the whole 4 km walk piping all the way! The Georgetown Kinsmen Club cooked more than 1,400 hot dogs. Thanks again to Mayor Rick Bonnette our great master of ceremonies. Last but not least, a final note of appreciation to our co-ordinating committee who have worked so hard again since January to pull this event together: Darlene and Jeff Sutherland, Jana McDonald, Jennifer Martinec, Rob Blackburn, Abbie Vechter, David Scurr, Rosemary Hart-Dibbits, Steve Frost, Raymond Franke, Iain Meldrum, Bianca Radix, Jean Leckie, Sarah Simpson and Tina Bell. You can still donate until December to have your funds count for this year's walk and the three local Tim Hortons have volunteered to donate funds raised during their Smile Cookie campaign day in September to our walk day funds too. We look forward to seeing you all again for the third Georgetown/Acton Walk for ALS in June 2011! Melanie Franke and Mary Jo Knox, Acton/Georgetown Walk Co-ordinators Walk drew 1,000 Dear editor, Re: ALS walk. So far $140K was raised and funds continue to come in. Our community came through again, big time, with at least 1,000 people, plus 25 dogs. Halton Hills continues to show what a big heart can do to support the fight against ALS and give hope to the patients and their families who are dealing with this disease. Thank you to...the schools, churches, community service clubs, corporate sponsors, volunteers of 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. Publication is not guaranteed. E-mail: jmcghie@independentfreepress.com Mail or drop off: Independent & Free Press, 280 Guelph St., Unit 29, Georgetown, ON., L7G 4B1. 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.