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www.insideHALTON.com · OAKVILLE BEAVER Wednesday, October 26, 2011 · 6 OPINION & LETTERS The Oakville Beaver 467 Speers Rd., Oakville Ont. L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5571 Classified Advertising: 632-4440 Circulation: 845-9742 --Open 9-5 weekdays, 5-7 for calls only Wed. to Friday, Closed weekends Editorial and advertising content of the Oakville Beaver is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: C Canadian Circulation Audit Board Member A THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: Recognized for Excellence by Ontario Community Newspapers Association S Suburban Newspapers of America o Canadian Community Newspapers Association ATHENA Award NEIL OLIVER Vice ­ President and Group Publisher of Metroland West The Oakville Beaver is a division of DAVID HARVEY Regional General Manager JILL DAVIS Editor in Chief DANIEL BAIRD Advertising Director ANGELA BLACKBURN Managing Editor RIZIERO VERTOLLI Photography Director SANDY PARE Business Manager MARK DILLS Director of Production MANUEL GARCIA Production Manager CHARLENE HALL Director of Distribution SARAH MCSWEENEY Circ. Manager Learning foundation helps even playing field It is one of those charitable organizations that works quietly in the background assisting our most precious, yet vulnerable, members of society -- Halton's young people. This group works to ensure all students and schools within the Halton District School Board get the assistance they need for a healthy and happy education experience. The Halton Learning Foundation will celebrate a milestone tomorrow (Thursday) at its annual celebration dinner in Oakville. Thanks to the generosity of donors, the foundation announced it has handed out $2 million in grant money. The foundation, an independent charity that operates collaboratively with the Halton school board, is quick to thank its sponsors. Fundraising is tough enough, but even harder when there is perceived wealth for all who reside in Halton. The grants recognize the economic disparity among schools and attempts to level the playing field for both students and educators. The donations also assist students in crisis -- sometimes beyond education funding. These are the students who come from socioeconomic backgrounds where there simply is not enough money to buy that warm winter coat or boots. The students are among the region's hidden poor. We are fortunate to live in a wealthy municipality, but we often forget about families struggling to get by. When you consider the Halton District School Board has more than 50,000 students and 95 schools, we know the need is great. "Whether it is by providing emergency help for students in need, funding new resources and projects that enrich the learning environment, or by recognizing student achievement with scholarships, the foundation's ultimate purpose is to support students and strengthen schools," says the foundation in a news release. If you have some extra cash to spare, you may want to consider assisting the Halton Learning Foundation. This charity is the foundation upon which we are building our future. To learn more about the Halton Learning Foundation, visit www.haltonlearningfoundation.ca. The Oakville Beaver is a member of the Ontario Press Council. The council is located at 80 Gould St., Suite 206, Toronto, Ont., M5B 2M7. Phone 416-340-1981. Advertising is accepted on the condition that, in the event of a typographical error, that portion of advertising space occupied by the erroneous item, together with a reasonable allowance for signature, will not be charged for, but the balance of the advertisement will be paid for at the applicable rate. The publisher reserves the right to categorize advertisements or decline. Letter to the editor Tree planting in Hopedale Park Recently, the Oakville community come together in a way that demonstrated the true meaning of `giving back.' Local business, community organizations, residents and the Town of f Oakville showed just what can happen when we all work together. Hopedale Park was the beneficiary of a partnership between the Town, Groundbreakers and Oakvillegreen that saw 150 trees planted. The rain held off, but the community poured in to the park, with shovels in hand, to take part in improving their community. As Karen Brock, president of f Oakvillegreen, said, "It is like a barnraising," and it truly was. Babies in strollers, young children, students, families, neighbours young and old, as well as senior management from TD Canada Trust (Hopedale Mall) came out with Ward 2 Councillor Pam Damoff and me to improve our neighbourhood park. Coronation Park was the second park to get some sprucing up this week. With paint rollers, brushes, and wheel barrows in tow, approximately 60 employees of Dufferin Construction and their parent company, Holcim Canada, volunteered their time, energy and materials to make improvements to Coronation Park. The eager team, in their safety vests and white paint overalls, could be seen throughout the park as they worked to improve our neighbourhood. This long-time Oakville business demonstrated how community partnerships can be such a benefit to our Town. On behalf of Councillor Damoff, the Town of Oakville, and most importantly, the broader community, thank you to everyone who made these events such a success. Cathy Duddeck, Councillor Ward 2, Oakville Letters to the editor The Oakville Beaver r welcomes letters from its readers. Letters will be edited for clarity, length, legal considerations and grammar. In order to be published all letters must contain the name, address and phone number of the author. Letters should be addressed to The Editor, Oakville Beaver, 467 Speers Rd., Oakville, ON, L6K 3S4, or via e-mail to editor@oakvillebeaver.com. The Beaver r reserves the right to refuse to publish a letter. Kindness d of f strangers appreciated d I don't live in Oakville, but after a recent weekend visit, I would love to be a member of the community. I was at my aunt's house looking after her dog and taking care of her house while she took my mom on a birthday trip. While there at the weekend, I made sure to take advantage of the beautiful trails Oakville has to take Maggie -- my aunt's nine-year-old golden retriever -- for her walks. On Sunday, while enjoying a walk and all the salutations and hellos from members of the community, I happened to find myself lost. I did have my phone with me so I used the GPS to get out, but it took me a while. Poor Maggie had already tried to give up in the forest, but I managed to convince her to keep going. I finally got out of the forest and got myself to Neyagawa Boulevard. I could see the street I needed to get to, but it was still a little way away. That's when Maggie decided she couldn't walk anymore. I tried everything I could think of to get her to move. I got down to her level and tried coaxing her a little bit farther, which worked for only a little while until she really gave up and laid her head on the sidewalk. I felt so bad, I didn't mean to get lost and I knew Maggie was older and couldn't handle long walks. I started to realize then that I may have a big problem on my hands. I tried picking her up and walking with her in my arms, but I quickly realized I couldn't make it that far. I See Help page 7