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stouffville suntribune thursday jan 6 2005 3 stouffville says by hannelorevolpe do you think canada is doing enough to help tsunami victims in asia asked at ap tuesday morning jennifer rose canada has been great in terms of the amount of money we are sending and the fact officials are working together to figure out how to distribute aid effectively donna dicostanzo the government is doing the best it can however the response of individual canadians has been amazing they have already donated more than 65 million ivy tong it seems like canadians are putting a lot of effort into helping the tsunami victims they are concerned there is media cover age every day norman drudge canadians have responded well for the size of our country it will take a long time for south asia to recover father tadros tadros is the spiritual leader for st bishoy coptic orthodox church which has found a home in stouffville in the old stouffville missionary church building on main street the church celebrates masses with holy communion in english arabic and coptic several deacons sing during the service which has no musical accompaniment staff photomike barrett new residents come for church by hannelorevolpe staff writer after seven years without a church to call its own the congregation of st bishoy coptic orthodox church finally found a home in stouffville now many of the 200 church members travel here for sunday mass beginning at 830 pm and several pro grams during the week finding this facility for merly the home of stouffville missionary church on main street is a miracle the churchs priest father tadros tadros said it is a gift from st bishoy father tadros came from cairo egypt more than a decade ago the coptic church originated in egypt as he formed his congrega tion of middle eastern fami lies he led the search from richmond hill for a church based in york region during that time the church rented space in a roman catholic church over the years church members visited sites from woodbridge to markham and scoured the internet until the former missionary church building popped up several of the congregation checked out the structure and the excitement level rose as people realized this could be their new home finding this facility formerly the home of stouffville missionary church on main street is a miracle the churchs priest father tadros tadros said l is a gift from st bishoy over the past year while the new missionary church now called eastridge evangelical church was being completed both con gregations shared the old building at 6500 main st it took some juggling but they made it happen stouffvilles population has already become richer since several egyptian orthodox families moved here to be closer to the church more are coming in the summer once school is out father tadros said eastridge evangelical on 10th line near the stouffville country market had its grand opening in october the st bishoy congrega tions grand opening hap pened around the same time on thanksgiving weekend the church celebrates masses with holy communion in english arabic and coptic several deacons sing during the mass which has no musi cal accompaniment after mass children can go to french lessons to help them with school work father tadros wife yvonne explained the church also holds spe cial events during which the churchs adult choir sings other coptic churches join in basketball games and other events as the new year progresses st bishoy is planning events open to the stouffville community briefly trade unwanted items on recycling website the wwtchurchstouffville recy cling group has launched an initiative to help keep items out of landfill sites its electronic exchange is a way for people to list things they want to give away group president tim priebe said anyone with an unneeded item can post it on the groups website were asking that people be frank about the condition of the goods being offered mr priebe added all items must be free except for delivery charges the aim of the elec tronic exchange is to take items that cant be sold on ebay or are too large or inappropriate for the care and share thrift shop residents on the hunt for some- tiling can post their name on the electronic exchanges website for more information on how to post an item on the website log on to wwwworknotescomonstouffville recycle email recyclinggroup sympaticoca or phone 9056408294 fundraisers aid victims of tsunami the earl of whitchurch in stouffville is raising funds for victims of the tsunami in south asia at its weekly sunday afternoon jam session the disaster hit close to home since the pubs cook chef sammy shamaghthangth lost 27 family members in the catastrophe local musician pierre bordeleau a regular at the jam sessions and earl of whitchurch owner steve fitzpatrick decided to ask for dona tions to support world vision canadas relief program the open acoustic jam begins at 230 pm in the pub at 6204 main st in stouffville call 9056408300 for more information meanwhile proceeds from all saturday and sunday sales at charlinda belgian chocolates 14811 ninth line wul go to tsunami victims quoteworthy he was almost born in the car anna maria scrofano mother of the first baby of 2005 born at markham stouffville hospital see story on page 1 contacting us have a news tip please phone us at 9056402612 email us at jmasonyrngcom visit us at 34 civic ave stouffville ontarios new free vaccines will protect kids the government of ontario is helping kids stay safe from chicken pox meningococcal meningitis and pneumococcal disease heres how it works vaccine for pneumococcal disease is now available free for children born on or after january 1 2004 vaccines for chicken pox and meningococcal meningitis are now available free for oneyearold children born on or after september 1 2003 fiveyearolds and highrisk people of any age who havent had chicken pox can also get the free vaccine twelveyearolds 15- to 19yearolds and highrisk people of any age 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