Uxbridge seniors honoured for service

Roger Varley, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

In a ceremony at Queen's Park on Wednesday, two Uxbridge residents were presented with the Ontario Senior Achievement Award by the lieutenant-governor. Dawn Gillespie was recognized for the project she started called Room for a Child, while Nancy Emo was honoured for her years of volunteering with the Uxbridge Hospital Auxiliary. Twenty-one people received the Ontario award, two of them from Uxbridge.

At council on Monday, Rev. Bill Fritz was presented with a certificate of recognition for his work with the Handicapable services he runs for Trinity United Church.

Gillespie's Room for a Child creates beautiful bedrooms for children in need. A retired school principal, she has been helping children for the last 13 years.

"I got bored quickly in retirement and missed the kids," she said. "I knew there were needs. Many kids live in challenging neighbourhoods."

She said she receives referrals from social services, schools and refugee organizations and then meets with the children and their parents to see what furniture is needed and designs the room with the child in mind.

She said all furniture is donated, including toiletry kits for teens. She helps make rooms for kids in York, Toronto and in Durham, but noted she has only helped two children in Uxbridge.

"There's lots of hidden poverty in Uxbridge but I couldn't get any referrals," she said.

Room for a child is a non-profit organization and is unable to give tax receipts for any donations it receives. She said there's always a shortage of money and she buys a lot of mattresses herself.

Mattresses are the big item for Gillespie. She talked of children sleeping on shabby mattresses on the floor and of three boys sharing the same mattress in a 9x8 room.

Gillespie said she is willing to make presentations about her work to any group interested. Her website is roomforachild.ca.