From left to right: Mark Kartusch, Executive Director of Highland Shores CAS, Sam Brady, Chair of the Children’s Foundation, Golda and Tom Lafferty, Deborah Duffy, Wilma Pukancik, and Linda Duffy. Unable to attend were Jack and Linda Hartling. (Photo/John Spitters/Quinte News)
The Children’s Foundation honoured some significant donors helping children and families year round in Hastings, Prince Edward, and Northumberland Counties.
Today (Monday), the Foundation added to the Guardians of Hope list that carries the names of people who’ve donated gifts of $10,000 or more.
Honoured were Jack and Linda Hartling and family, Deborah Duffy, in memory of her mother Mary E. Duffy, along with Tom and Golda Lafferty.
At a special luncheon, Lisa Post, a Child Protection Worker with Highland Shores CAS said that she and other front-line staff could not do the extra, kind things that sometimes make a big difference when helping families in crisis without the financial support of the Children’s Foundation.
“One of the most important things for a baby is to have a safe place to sleep. And, sometimes we deal with families that simply don’t have the means to buy a quality crib with mattress. This is where the Foundation helps so much.
Under the Safe Sleep program, I can apply for funding to buy a crib and potentially prevent baby from being injured or even experiencing Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.”
Safe Sleep and other programs, such as Helping Hands and Playing for Keeps, are not part of the Highland Shores annual budget.
Post described another instance where a family was faced with a sudden medical crisis involving one of their children and had to make several long trips to various hospitals for treatment.
The cost of those trips was something that the family could not handle. Post applied to the Foundation for help and was provided enough money to buy some gas cards and the financial pressures were eased leading to less stress on the family.
“We couldn’t do these crucial extras without the Children’s Foundation and the donors that support it financially. To all of the donors, thank you so much.”
