As the public health nurses continue their strike, they are taking it upon themselves to continue to give back to the community.
Nurses with the Ontario Nurses Association Local 31 brought baby supplies to the Community Development Council of Quinte on Thursday.
The supplies are part of the CDC Quinte’s Good Baby Box program.
“We had been brainstorming how can we still help our community that we love, and that we aren’t working with right now due to our strike,” Suzanne White, a public health nurse with Healthy Families, Healthy Growth and Development, tells Quinte News.
“So we decided to do this drive today to help the CDC Good Baby Box and help clients that are accessing the program.”
ONA Vice President, Region 2’s Bernie Robinson says the items were gathered from different offices across the region.
“Some of our staff from our offices throughout ONA have donated to assist with this community program. Always thinking of children and our future and they are our future and so we want to make sure they all have the best chance possible to be successful.” Robinson says.
Community Development Council of Quinte Program Coordinator Bev Heuving says the donation will help the program greatly.
“This donation is huge and speaks volumes to their commitment to the community, but also to the families in this community.” Heuving tells Quinte News.
“So as a program coordinator, I can’t thank them enough and I know that the families who use the program will be overwhelmed by the generosity of their donation today.”
The donation comes on the same day that ONA announced it would be filing a Freedom of Information request to look into the Board of Health’s finances.
Robinson says the union will continue to fight for fair bargaining.
“This sits squarely on the Board of Health’s shoulders that they need to ensure that the money that’s given to the public health unit is spent with integrity and that has really shown that there is some questions about that.”
Those looking to make a donation to the Community Development Council of Quinte can find more information at their website.
