A lunch program that gives hot meals to kids could be folding in the aftermath of a scandal involving its founder: Donnie Snook.
Judith
Arsenault runs the lunch program at Saint John the Baptist School,
formerly the Chicken Noodle Club, and she tells CHSJ news they
desperately need volunteers and donations, as well as key items like
sufficient dishes, despite the $25,000 donation the program recieved
from PotashCorp back in December.
She says
many people assumed the programs closed after the events of last
January but that's not the case and they are still trying to feed
hundreds of kids who might otherwise go hungry.
The program at Hazen White St. Francis has already had to close due to lack of volunteers.
If
you've ever wanted a tree of your own, a new planting-program in the
valley is offering you the opportunity to lay claim to one, all while
greening up the community.
Through
Streetscape, you can buy a tree for $30, and it would be planted in the
municipal right-of-way this Fall. Quispamsis Mayor Murray Driscoll tells
CHSJ News residents are able to sponsor the trees, having one as their
own to to weed, feed and take care of.
You have until June 28 to submit your application. For a list of the types of trees you can buy, click here. For a link to the application form, click here.
Saint John is posting the highest apartment vacancy rate in the country according to a survey from Canada Mortgage and Housing.
The
survey shows the city's vacancy rate at 10.4-percent at the end of April
compared to Edmonton and Calgary where the vacancy rate is 1.2-percent -
the lowest in Canada.
As far
as average rents are concerned - we appear to be in the middle with an
average monthly rent of 703-dollars for a two bedroom apartment.
Vancouver
is the most expensive with a two bedroom going for 1255-dollars a month
while Saguenay in Quebec posted the lowest average at 560-dollars a
month.
The Canadian Red Cross says a volunteer team from the Maritimes is helping flood evacuees from across Alberta.
The
volunteers are staffing call centres in Saint John, Moncton and
Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. As of noon on Saturday, 500 calls had been
processed at the three operations centres. John Byrne of the group says
the centres collect information from flood victims such as where they
live and the best way to contact them.
Several
volunteers are on stand-by to be deployed to the flood-ravaged province
to manage evacuation and reception centres if need be.
To
support the Red Cross response, you can do so with a financial
contribution online at redcross.ca or by calling toll-free
1-800-418-1111 and specifying your donation is for the “Alberta Flood
Response.”
