Brandon (May 18, 2016) Lois Henderson has been named the Brandon and District United Way's 2016 Campaign Chair. Lois believes strongly in the premise of the United Way and over the last two years has contributed her time and effort to help raise the funds required to provide resources, hope and education, in addition to the necessities of life, to a wide range of citizens in our community. Lois was born in Saskatoon, Sk and as a child of the prairies she spent her formative years if Rivers, Portage la Prairie and Winnipeg. Newly announced Campaign Chair for the Brandon & District United Way's 2016 campaign, Lois Henderson. (Photo submitted) Most of her career has been in the resource industry, including working with oil and gas, mineral exploration, mining and underground construction companies. She attended the University of Western Ontario and is a CGA CPA, a Distinguished Toastmaster and an avid curler. In 2010, representing Northern Ontario, her team won the bronze medal at the Canadian Senior Women's Curling Championship. Lois is also an author, and was recently awarded the Sheldon Oberman Mentorship through the Manitoba Writer's Guild. In her four years in Brandon she has contributed to the social welfare fabric of our community through her work with various organizations. These include the Women's Resource Centre, the YWCA and the United Way. Pictured Left to right: Lois Henderson (Chair of the Brandon& District United Way's 2016 campaign), Terry Carlisle (Chair of the United Way Board of Directors) and Cynamon Mychasiw (Chief Executive Officer of the United Way of Brandon & District). (Photo Submitted) While serving on the local board of the United Way for the past two years Lois mentioned through her observations what was paramount to her, "the first thing I observed was the impact of the United Way funding in Brandon and surrounding area. The money that is raised by the United Way Brandon & District stays in our communities, and is leveraged by the work of volunteers and the staff of those organizations providing greatly needed services and assistance." During her Campaign Chair announcement Henderson emphasized the fact that the United Way in this area, "is not a faceless organization. It is people like Cynamon (Mychasiw, Chief Executive Officer of the United Way Brandon & District) and Janis (Evens, United Way Brandon & District Director of Operations) and Tyler (Horan, Campaign Director), working to raise money from our community, to be used in our community, to impact our own people, those who are going through a rough patch or in need of special resources." Henderson also stressed the importance of spreading awareness that the dollars raised here are used here, "the funds raised from the campaign stay here in Brandon and District, they go to people you know or someone you walk by on the street. These dollars provide a safety net in our towns, to people in their times of crisis or need."  Chief Executive Officer of the Brandon & District United Way Cynamon Mychasiw was thrilled about the announcement and commented, "Lois's dedication, vision and leadership will drive this year's campaign to new heights!" Henderson wrapped up her speech by saying, "the final third of 2016 will be the focus of the United Way Campaign and it is during this time that those who volunteer their time to raising these much needed dollars will be calling on you. When they do, and they will, please consider the impact you can have in making your community a stronger and better place for us to live and work."        United Way of Brandon & District is a leader in mobilizing people to give, advocate and volunteer to advance education, income and health in our community. For more info, to donate or offer your volunteerism call 204-571-8929 or visit their office at 201 - 1011 Rosser Avenue in Brandon. What does the United Way do? The United Way offers you dozens of opportunities to improve your community. Your donation, however big or small, becomes something that will make a difference in someone’s life. Imagine having a chance to offer help to someone in 25 different ways. The United Way of Brandon & District partners with 25 Agencies throughout our community which run 31 different programs to help those people in need. Their Tools for School & Coats for Kids programs are just two of the many opportunities to make a difference. You can also make your donation to the program of your choice be it: The CNIB, The Women's Resource Centre, MS Society, Food For Thought, Family Visions, Helping Hands, YMCA, YWCA or the myriad of other worthwhile programs and services the United Way allocates funds to. Your donation to United Way of Brandon & District is making a difference and creating an opportunity. You are creating change for someone’s life without even realizing it. More so, the Brandon and District United Way guarantee that your donation is being put right back to work in our community to ensure these opportunities can continue to provide food and shelter, offer a safe place for kids to play after school and even to help the visually impaired, to name a just a few. Who knew, one donation could do so much!

We all wake up and assume that our home and family will be ok.  This is how the morning started for Jordan Poitras on May 3rd in Fort McMurray. BDNMB.CA was given exclusive to this story. Jordan was working on a job site doing Tile work in a shower when he noticed all of the sudden things got darker and darker outside.   “I really didn’t think much about anything because we had lots of small forest fires in the area”  The homeowner told him that an area only a few minutes away was given an evacuation notice. At this point he decided to pack his tools and rush to the downtown area through gridlock. “I was able to pick up my girlfriend then we went to get some clothes we didn’t have much time to react” The two of them drove to Gregoire Lake to what they thought would be camping for one or two nights.  “ Fuel was limited to 50 litres per person so we had to drive about 3.5 hours to Clyde before we were able to totally fill up” From the media one common message was how the local Fire – Police and Emergency people were.  “Police and Volunteers were amazing and worked so efficient and kept everyone very calm” One thing is certain that you see the true colors of people in a disaster.  “ lots of volunteers would have gas tanks on their trucks and help fill up vehicles that ran out of gas….. We didn’t eat for 24 hours and people not the side of the road were giving people wraps and sandwiches that is where I broke down”  “ People were so amazing and generous” Edmonton hotels were also very generous is waving pet fees and allowing pets to stay in hotels. BDNMB ask Jordan if he would return to Fort Mac?  “ Some of my good friends lost everything and I never want to go through that again" Currently he has no idea of the status of his rental property but stated that an area three blocks away from where he lived that 12 trailers had burned down. Jordan is originally from Brandon does Tile work now for Contractors Corner.

News Release For Immediate Release - Results from the 2016 Point-in-Time (PiT) Homelessness Count in Brandon, which took place on April 13, revealed that the number of homeless in our city has increased from the original count held in January 2015. Surveys showed that 146 people in Brandon were found to be homeless; 28 of whom were unsheltered and 118 sheltered. In 2015, the number of people determined to be homeless was 117. The Brandon Neighbourhood Renewal Corporation (BNRC) organized the count, along with a number of local organizations. Project Coordinator, Mark Anderson said that while the number has increased, part of the reason for this could be because of an improved process and other factors. “With having the first count under our belt, we had the experience to improve our methodology. As well, there was increased community awareness prior to the event and there were additional partners involved, so in short we had more organizations involved and more volunteers out on the streets conducting surveys,” said Anderson. “However, it is important to note that all homeless counts are inherently undercounts. I’ve used the analogy before, but it is much like an iceberg. We only observe what’s visible. Like in many other communities across Canada, what we know to be true here in Brandon is that many homeless people are hidden so the number could even be higher.” In addition to the 146 surveyed adults, 35 children and dependants were present and another 25 adults declined to be surveyed, but were identified as being homeless (80 per cent of whom were known to service providers). Thirty-eight per cent of the surveyed respondents were under the age of 30, which means that Brandon is nearly twice the national average for youth. Nearly half of all respondents have been homeless for more than a year, however the vast majority indicated that they would prefer permanent housing. The PiT Count, funded by the Government of Canada’s Homelessness Partnering Strategy, provides various agencies with data to help understand the magnitude and complexity of homelessness in our community, with the ultimate goal of reducing the number of homelessness.  "In Brandon's Five Year Community Plan, researching and utilizing accurate data to drive program delivery was identified as a priority. The Point-in-Time Count collects vital local data that will allow the BNRC and our community partners to deliver meaningful and targeted programs and services. Continued data collection is not only important for understanding what homelessness looks like in our community, but also for evaluating the programs and services being made available,” said BNRC General Manager, Carly Gasparini.  For more on the PiT Count, visit: www.imatter-bdn.ca Contact: Mark Anderson, Project Coordinator Email: info@iMatter-bdn.ca Call: 204.720.2846 Twitter: @iMatterbdn Facebook: www.facebook.com/BrandonPiTCount Brandon PIT Count Summary 2016

Next time you're in Calgary airport and looking for your gate to get home to Brandon, things will look a little different! Actually, it looks amazing! That "A1" gate that leads to your YBR flight is now much more than a cement hallway and an auxiliary walk on gate.  Less than a month ago, Westjet opened their new A1-A5 gate wing. It has a plethora of comfortable chairs, a little kiosk to buy snacks and magazines, plus new washrooms.  We were there just after it was open and travellers were reluctant to make their way past the balloons and down the long, cold, cement hall. Indeed, even once you got to the A1 sign, nothing looked different. The key was to go 10 steps further and look to the right side. The new waiting room was huge and heated.  The washrooms were equally fabulous. If you recall the small, worn, and very busy washrooms next to the food court by the "old A1" you will be very impressed by the new washrooms down the hall. I wasn't sure people would believe me and since I was the only person around, I snapped a photo for my readers.  Next time you're waiting at YYC for a flight back to YBR, definitely go down the hall to the new waiting area, and go early. When you leave that main concourse, it will feel like adding a peaceful and exclusive 30 minutes to your vacation.  

25 years is really an eternity in today’s day and age for being married – working at the same job – or operating a locally based charity. Brandon’s Dreams for Kids has done that by existing over 25 years in Western Manitoba. According to one of the founders Ron Ball the key to the future is being able to generate funds on a annual basis. “ Our board is very active in the community doing various fund-raising ideas”. From Day 1 we were lucky have people like McDonalds come on board and Gary Buckley that gave us instant credibility. According to Ron Ball and Borden Hadley McDonald's is a key piece to where Dreams for Kids is today. McHappy Day and the Annual McDonald s Classic Golf Tournament are two of our greatest fundraisers throughout the year. Ball and Hadley both joke that when they walk into local business either the business owner is ducking to hide from them,or is going to grab the cheque book. The Brandon Wheat Kings Goals for Kids program will raise on average $10,000 dollars per season and has generated close to to $300,000 dollars since the program was created. Plus there are other amazing stories like creating a Children’s Wing at the Brandon General Hospital. Dreams was able to donate $150,000 dollars and that was used to leverage Government funding of 2.8 million dollars. All amazing local success stories. BDNMB – so walk me through the process how does a family apply for assistance or help? Ron Ball – most of the time people come to us through referral’s from friends and family members and that is where everything starts. BDNMB – how many families will Dreams for Kids assist on an annual basis? Borden Hadley – we would have about 40 – 50 families that would get assistance per year. BDNMB – I will direct this question to Angie what is the key to keeping Dreams for Kids being successful? Angie Ball – We always need more awareness and social media is a huge factor in spreading news. BDNMB – Being a local charity is that an advantage, so to speak, when you go up against larger national charities. Ron Ball – Some people don’t realize we are locally based. BDNMB – Question for both Ron and Borden would you hope that Dreams for Kids will be your legacy? Ron and Borden – Yes for sure. BDNMB – Charities are always looking for new people is it safe to say that Dreams is looking for "new blood”? Angie and Ron – Yes for sure we are and they can access our website or Facebook page to contact us. To access Dreams for Kids http://www.wdfk.ca/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/Westman-Dreams-For-Kids-119082778156670/?fref=ts Pictures from this years golf tournament. Olympians at the 25th Anniversary of the McDonalds classic! That's pretty cool. Reid Carruthers and Jared Funk.