Church congregations build memorial workshop in the Dominican Republic

A workshop in the Dominican Republic now bears the name of a former Halton Hills resident, thanks in large part to the congregations of two area churches. Georgetown residents Harry and Helen Hope and John Henderson were present last month when the new eight-unit `Parade of Shops' was dedicated in the village. The local trio spent a week in the Dominican Republic as members of Journey 2007, a group of 25 volunteers from the Cambridge, Guelph and Georgetown areas, who helped in the building of a village for the families of Haitian sugarcane cutters. Showing off the unit dedicated to Rock are, from left, Helen Hope, local villager Maria, John Henderson and Harry Hope.

Church congregations build memorial workshop in the Dominican Republic

A workshop in the Dominican Republic now bears the name of a former Halton Hills resident, thanks in large part to the congregations of two area churches. Doug Rock, a head mechanic at Skyservice Airlines in Malton, died last June following a 10-year battle with cancer. However, he lives on, not just in the hearts and minds of his family, former workmates and multitude of friends, but now in the Dominican Republic village of Ascension, where a workshop was recently dedicated in his memory. The congregations of Union and Norval Presbyterian Churches held a `Soup and Bread' fundraising night in January and exceeded the $2,000 needed to sponsor a shop. Rock was a former member of Union Presbyterian Church. Georgetown residents Harry and Helen Hope and John Henderson were present last month when the new eight-unit `Parade of Shops' was dedicated in the village. The local trio spent a week in the Dominican Republic as members of Journey 2007, a group of 25 volunteers from the Cambridge, Guelph and Georgetown areas, who helped in the building of a village for the families of Haitian sugarcane cutters. The project was the brainchild of retired Canadian couple Elio and Lena Madonia who have helped build eight villages in the Dominican since 1988. The most recent mission saw the Canadian contingent help with several building projects, donate $16,000 for the cost of building the Parade of Shops and donate $23,500 to sponsor seven homes in another new village, Nazareth. The Parade of Shops is expected to house a variety of businesses from a welder to a hairdresser to an earth products store.