Stephen Vance, Staff
The volunteers operating the Riverside Community Centre on the 7th Line do more than host events, including their popular Sunday morning ‘Breakfasts at Riverside’: they also give back to their community.
During their final community breakfast of the season on Sunday, September 9, Riverside Hall volunteers presented a cheque for $3,000 to the Meaford Hospital Foundation. Half of the donation will be used for the current MRI fundraising initiative, with the other half to be used for palliative care. The funds largely came from the proceeds of their community breakfasts.
“We’ve made donations the last two years, and we try to change it every year to another organization,” Riverside Community Centre volunteer Beth Boyes told The Independent. “We thought of the Hospital Foundation because the MRI is something that anyone in Meaford could use one day.”
Last year Riverside volunteers donated $2,000 to the Don Bumstead Family Medical Centre, and the year prior to that organizers supported both the Chapman House Hospice and the Golden Town Outreach, with $2,000 donations to each organization.
The Sunday breakfasts, held monthly from April through September, frequently feed more than 100 people, and on Mother’s Day of last year, the breakfast attracted more than 150 people.
Breakfasts at Riverside typically include breakfast staples like scrambled eggs, bacon, breakfast sausages, pancakes, toast, and hash browns, along with baked goods and fresh fruit all prepared by volunteer friends and neighbours and served cafeteria-style for just $10.
For more information about Riverside Community Centre or to book the facility for an event call Janice Hughes at 519-538-2938. The air-conditioned facility is frequently used for meetings, family gatherings, bridal showers, weddings, picnics, and musical events.
