“No child shall wait.”
The credo has guided the Children’s Treatment Centre since it opened in 1996. And, thanks to community support, the centre that helps child victims of sexual and physical abuse can continue to meet that goal. The CTC, which serves Cornwall, SDG and Akwesasne, has provided “life-changing services” to 3,082 children over the past 28 years, honourary chair Sean Adams said at the centre’s awards lunch last week.
The CTC is unique in that it receives no government funding. As such, the centre “can pivot on a dime” and can channel the bulk of its resources towards those who need them the most — the children.
The centre has “resurrected” abused children, lifting them from the “depths of despair,” Adams stated.
Many victims have come full circle, Adams noted. Children who have received CTC services are now asking, “How can we help?”
Challenges such as COVID-19 were overcome by donors and volunteers. “The Centre would not have survived without the commitment and involvement of all of you. It is because you care that the children served at the Centre will have a better future,” he told the crowd.
Again this year, a major source of funding has been the virtual Bike-A-Thon Plus.
“It was a remarkable success,” event chair Peter Asquini said. Noting the total was higher than last year’s year, he added, “Given the economic times, it serves to reinforce just how great the support is that the centre gets from the community.”
The tally to date is $116,642. This includes $10,000 from the Bank of Montreal and money raised from a bike-a-thon organized by Doug Grenkie in Dundas and the west half of Stormont.
Ten members of the clergy collected $90,312. The top fund-raisers were Fr. Louis Grotelaars ($21,348.10), Fr. Marc Piché ($14,753.10), Rev. Lois Gaudet ($12,053) and Fr. Augustine Obago ($10,907).
Father Grotelaars received the Chairman’s Award from Asquini. The priest has participated in the Bike-A-Thon Plus for 26 years and won the Chairman’s Award four times in the past.
CTC President David Michaud presented the President’s Award to sisters Isabelle and Katie Paquette, of South Stormont, who, along with family members, raised $7,652 by baking and selling cupcakes.
Their grandmother, Brenda Barnett, received the David Murphy Award, in recognition of her contribution to the cause, baking over 7,000 cupcakes, which in two years brought in $14,243. She received the honour from David Murphy’s daughter, Julia.
The award was created in 2022 in memory of the volunteer and fundraiser
