durhamregion.com This Week | Thursday, April 28, 2022 | 2 What Is 'Grasscycling'? After mowing, 'grasscycle' by leaving your grass clippings on your lawn. This returns nutrients back into the soil, reducing the need for fertilizers and lawn watering. Remember: grass clippings are not accepted as part of Whitby's waste collection program. whitby.ca/Waste Emergency Preparedness Week (May 1 to 7) Are you prepared for hazards or severe weather? Whitby Fire and Emergency Services is offering a free, recorded Emergency Preparedness Webinar with tips that will help you and your family be ready in any emergency situation. whitby.ca/Fire Help Keep Our School Zones Safe When driving through school zones, stay safe and help support your neighbourhood crossing guard. Remain fully stopped until all pedestrians and the guard have cleared the crossing and are safely on the sidewalk. whitby.ca/SchoolZoneSafety How To Schedule A Community Clean-up Did-you-know you can easily schedule a one-time community clean-up through the Town's anti-litter app? Receive a free clean-up kit (bags and gloves) from the Town and staff will collect the waste from a specified location after you are done! Thank you for doing your part to care for and keep our community clean! whitby.ca/CleanUp Help Shape Whitby's Climate Change Plan Complete a survey now through Friday, May 6 to share your local climate change concerns and what actions you think will have the biggest impact on reducing emissions in the community. The first 200 participants will receive a free package of pollinator friendly native perennial wildflower seeds. connectwhitby.ca/ClimateChange Celebrate National Youth Week in Whitby Whitby youth ages 12 to 18 are encouraged join the Town in celebrating National Youth Week (May 1 to 7). Connect with friends and have fun with a series of free activities. Go for a swim or skate, visit the Youth Room Open House on May 3 at 4 p.m, shoot some hoops at the Youth Drop-In Basketball and more! Sponsored by Elexicon. whitby.ca/Calendar P: 905.430.4300 E: info@whitby.ca whitby.ca What You Need To Know This Week: Youth Week 2022 May 1 to 7 It's about trust. Our relationship with our readers is built on transparency, honesty and integrity. As such, we have launched a trust initiative to tell you who we are and how and why we do what we do. This article is part of that project. A specific concern was heard in 2021 when Torstar formed 16 advisory councils to meet with editorial leadership teams across Ontario to discuss community issues: local charities and non-profits are in need of support. The issue was heard across Ontario among the nearly 400 community leaders participating, and to address the growing need, Torstar is launching a special program to provide local charities and non-profits with $2,022,000 in free advertising in the next calendar year. "This is a massive undertaking and commitment for us, but we heard from every advisory council the challenge that small- and medium-size charities have in reaching the people who need their services. We're hoping to help change that," Jordan Bitove, co-owner of Torstar and publisher of theTorstar and publisher of theT Toronto Star, shared in aToronto Star, shared in aT newsletter to community advisory members. The program will assist Ontario charities and non-profits through the provision of $2.022 million in free Torstar advertising in 2022 to help communities address issues that surfaced through Torstar's network of Community Advisory Councils. Readers of Metroland publications in Durham Region can keep an eye on local advertising in your community paper promoting this initiative and are encouraged to apply by sending an email to TorstarGivesBack@torstar.com, indicating in which newspaper(s) they would like promotion. Applications will be reviewed, and once a selected organization has been approved, they will be allotted a nominal budget and will work directly with a local advertising department to book ads. This is an exciting program that we know will make a difference in our communities. Robyn Wilkinson is the managing editor of Torstar Community Brands in Waterloo, Cambridge, Guelph and New Hamburg and a member of the Torstar Community Brands trust committee. Reach her at rwilkinson@metroland.com. We welcome your questions and value your comments. Email our trust committee at trust@metroland.com. TORSTAR GIVING BACK WITH NEW PROGRAM OPINION WE ARE EXCITED TO RING IN A NEW YEAR BY GIVING BACK TO OUR COMMUNITIES, WRITES ROBYN WILKINSON ROBYN WILKINSONColumn We heard from every advisory council the challenge that small- and medium-size charities have in reaching the people who need their services. We're hoping to help change that. - Jordon Bitove, co-owner of Torstar A STRONGER VOICE We recognize that diversity is the strength of our communities and we are inviting you to share your voice in our publications. DURHAMREGION.COM/COMMUNITYDIVERSITY