Hello members,

BFO-Provincial is requesting some funding from the government and they have asked us to forward this letter to our membership.

At the bottom of this article you will find a sample of the correspondence.

Please save the 4 documents that are linked here: request for Provincial Government Funding document 1, document 2, document 3, document 4 and attach them with your correspondence to the relevant MPP.

Some of the local MPPs are listed below – should your area not be included in this list here is the link to the site with all their names and contact details…

https://www.ola.org/en/members/current?order=name&sort=asc

Dear Insert MPP name

As a resident of your riding, I am writing to ask for your support on behalf of Bereaved Families of Ontario - Durham Region http://bfodurham.net/, a local, not-for-profit organization that provides peer support to individuals following the death of a loved one.

With our provincial affiliates, we have been advocating for support from Government for the past 3 years and have recently submitted a proposal (attached) for funding to be considered in the upcoming budget.

During these challenging times, the service we provide to Ontarians becomes more and more essential. We want to continue to support grieving people across the province, helping to keep them out of the health care system and maximize resources. To do that we need your support.

Please advocate for us during the budget deliberations.

Sincerely,

Your Name here 😊 

Member, Bereaved Families of Ontario- Durham Region

Dear Members,

Wishing you all a healthy and safe 2021. The Walk to Remember committee met through Zoom this past Monday night and we have decided to move forward with a virtual Walk.

While we look forward to continuing a longstanding tradition of honouring our loved ones while walking in their memory and raising funds for BFO-Durham, things will look a little different this year due to the current environment:

• We welcome everyone to walk either on your own or with your household anytime between now and Sunday, March 7, 2021. After this, we ask that you email or mail your sponsor sheets to our office
• We encourage everyone to contact family and friends to sponsor BFO-Durham, in a year where our Walk will be adapting to our current restrictions. One option would be to set up a charitable fundraiser on your personal Facebook page, with donations going directly to BFO-Durham (please make sure to select “charitable”). Other forms of social media could also be used to spread awareness of the event, including Instagram
• Unlike previous years where the Walk has taken place in one location, this year’s setup will allow for family and friends to support and take part, regardless of where they are located. We encourage all participants to submit a video of what their Walk will look like this year – details to follow
• There will be a silent auction set up online, similar to the one we did in the fall. This will launch roughly one week before the March 7, 2021 deadline
• We will also have prizes for the top three members with the highest amount of money raised

Further details regarding our Walk to Remember 2021 will be found in our newsletter which will come out at the end of January.

Thank you and stay safe,

Jane Carter

BFO Durham ONLINE Silent Auction 2020

So much has changed recently with the Covid 19 pandemic challenging our daily routines and sense of normal.  This is nothing new for those familiar with BFO where a new normal is what the programs and facilitators are assisting those dealing with loss, try to achieve.

For the first time our annual Fundraising Dance (with raffles and silent auction) has had to be cancelled.  With social gatherings off the table for this year a few of our members felt there had to be some way to assist because the tragedy of loss does not stop just because there is a pandemic.

Thankfully, even with the economic challenges of the shutdown, our sponsors came through and provided items for our first ever online auction.  It does not match the exhilaration of spending an enjoyable evening with our BFO-Durham friends as we enjoy dancing, eating good food, and eagerly checking the silent auction lists to see how we stand, but we hope that this Online Silent Auction will allow us to raise some much needed funds to help BFO Durham be there for those in need.

We can’t emphasize enough our appreciation for the dedication of our sponsors as well as the individual donations under such difficult circumstances.  With businesses shut down and a lack of a clear path forward it speaks to the quality of people we are so lucky to have in our community.

Our auction is now live and will be available until 5pm on Sunday October 18^th 2020.

The link to our auction site is: www.32auctions.com/BFO-Online-Auction-2020 and bidding is enabled.

To actively bid in the auction you will need to register FOR FREE, as a participant via the auction site.. no payment details are taken.

We hope you are able to help support this fundraising event, every penny counts! If you simply wish to make a donation, there are multiple options available for you:

click the donate link on our website,

click on the "donate" auction item (this is set at $25) - no payment is taken during the auction - settlement(payment) is at the end of the auction by any of our accepted methods

send us an e-transfer (bfodurham@bellnet.ca)

phone the office with your credit card details

cash or debit donations are also accepted at the office

All monetary donations of $25 or more are eligible for a donation receipt

Thank you

Thank you to everyone for a fantastic Walk to Remember 2021

A Huge THANK YOU to Anthony Moreino for his audio talents. As promised, here is the Video

BFO Durham Online Silent Auction for the Walk to Remember 2021

So much has changed in the last year with the Covid 19 pandemic challenging our daily routines and sense of normal.  This is nothing new for those familiar with BFO where a new normal is what the programs and facilitators are assisting those dealing with loss, try to achieve.

With social gatherings off the table for this year a few of our members felt there had to be some way to assist because the tragedy of loss does not stop just because there is a pandemic.

Thankfully, even with the economic challenges of the shutdown, our sponsors have still come to our aid and provided items for our Walk to Remember Online Auction.

Virtual events cannot match the exhilaration of spending time with our BFO-Durham friends as we enjoy each other’s company, and most importantly for a lot of us…((Hugs)), but the virtual realm is at least giving us the opportunity to continue to raise much needed funds to help BFO Durham be there for those in need.

We can’t emphasize enough our appreciation for the dedication of our sponsors as well as the individual donations under such difficult circumstances.  With businesses shut down and a lack of a clear path forward it speaks to the quality of people we are so lucky to have in our community.

Our auction will go live at 12noon on Sunday February 28th and will be available until 6pm on Sunday March 7^th 2021.

The link to our auction site is: https://www.32auctions.com/Walk-to-Remember-2021 and the items for auction will be ready for viewing by mid-February.

Successful bidders will be able to pay for and collect their items as of Monday March 8^th from the office, but PLEASE phone the office to arrange a suitable time.

We hope you are able to help support this fundraising event, every penny counts! If you simply wish to make a donation, you can purchase a donation “Bid” for $25 per unit on the auction site once it goes live and then there are multiple payment options available for you:

click the donate link on our website, (for amounts less than $25) and put a note that it’s for WTR2021

send us an e-transfer (bfodurham@bellnet.ca)

phone the office with your credit card details

cash or debit donations are also accepted at the office

All monetary donations of $25 or more are eligible for a donation receipt

Please help Eric Davidson raise funds for BFO Durham by supporting him during his 1 million meter row.

1 Million Meter Row Challenge. I am performing a 1 million meter row challenge to raise money for BFO – Durham, to be completed by 24th December 2020 (Approx. 22 weeks) averaging 45,000 meters (42,195 is a marathon) per week to meet this challenge. I started 15 weeks ago and I am currently at 854,835 meters( updated as 01-Nov). BFO – Durham supports hundreds of families struggling to cope with the loss of a loved one, without any government support. If you could sponsor me for $1, $2, $10 or more per 100,000 meters it would be greatly appreciated and 100% of all money raised will be going to a great cause.
Week 15 - Rowed 854,835 145,165 to go.

You can sponsor/donate via his facebook link : https://www.facebook.com/donate/259188145342914/10158638034728077/

This is a short 2.5min video produced by the co-op student BFO had to help with the Walk to Remember 2020.

ANGELS’ TREE OF LIGHT 2020

This year marks the 25^th anniversary of BFO-Durham’s Angels’ Tree of Light. We had plans to make this year’s ceremony a very special event. Covid-19 restrictions have made it necessary to rethink those plans, however, we will still proceed with the ceremony in a different format.

Our Angels this year are a beautiful, silvery filigree design with silver ribbons for your loved one’s name. This year’s ceremony will take place at a new location, without an audience. The ceremony will follow our usual program with a welcome from Jane Carter (Executive Director), Opening Remarks, Dedication & Tree Lighting. We will also have musical performances and our special memorial reading.

We will be making a short film of our 2020 Angels’ Tree with a brief history of our Angels’ Tree since the beginning. The film will be available for viewing on the BFO-Durham website on Thursday, Nov 26^th.

Please support this event by making a donation for these beautiful Angels which are yours to keep after the event. See Angel Order Form for details.