Acts of kindness in a time of crisis
CBC Ottawa highlighting acts of community caring
We hope you've enjoyed our daily positive news blog. We've enjoyed sharing these stories with you. Click here to be taken to the One Good Turn blog page for May 2020.
April 30, 2020
'We need to help out': Med students pay it forward
Medical students who've seen their classes cancelled and clinical rotations abandoned might not be able to be on the front lines — and so some coming up with other ways to help their future colleagues fight COVID-19.
Heidi Li is a third-year medical student at the University of Ottawa. She and her friend, Simran Aggarwal, have created a service that matches student volunteers with front-line workers who need child care and other household errands done.
"When push comes to shove, we need to help out. That is the foundation of medicine," Li said in an interview with CBC News.
Now, nearly 60 medical students are providing child care to allow doctors, nurses and paramedics to get to work, while another group is providing a grocery delivery service to seniors.
"Not being able to help in a medical capacity may be frustrating," Aggarwal said. "But this is a huge responsibility. To have someone trust you to take care of their children is an honour."
Kameela Alibhai is another U of O med student trying to find a way to help out.
Last weekend, she helped organize a personal protective equipment (PPE) drive, inviting members of the public to drop off equipment at the St John's Ambulance on Morrison Drive.
The group she's working with has been able to collect masks and gowns donated by nail salons and dental clinics and redistribute them to general practitioners and inner-city health teams who don't have enough to see patients.
Alibhai plans to be at it again this Saturday between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.
"I wish I could fast-forward four or five years and be in a place where I could help and be more useful," the first-year med student said.
"We're playing our part to do something small and make sure our front-line workers stay protected so they can continue to serve our community."
Daniel Milad is a third-year med student at the University of Laval who's back home in Ottawa for the duration of the pandemic.
He and two friends are fundraising to provide meals for front-line workers. Their organization, FrontlineFeeds, has raised $11,000 on its GoFundMe page and they've dropped off 500 meals so far.
"Food is such a universal way to say thank you," he said.
For Milad, the fact that medical students in particular are rushing to help out is no surprise.
"We want to give back because we want to be on those front lines," Milad said. "If [the pandemic] was only one year down the line, we would be there with them."
April 29, 2020
6-foot sub delivered to care home staff — from a safe distance
The deputy mayor of South Stormont knows first-hand how tough it is for employees in long-term care homes right now.
His wife has worked at the Woodland Villa in Long Sault, Ont., since the day it opened.
"It's not just the physical work they do all the time, it's the emotional work," David Smith told CBC News.
He said that while his wife's facility has not experienced an outbreak of COVID-19, over the course of her career she has often been brought to tears by the emotional toll of her job.
"It's a sad thing to say, but [people] are dying and the last person that they see before they take their last breath are these health-care employees," he said. "They're the last hand that they hold."
On Tuesday, Smith decided to show his appreciation by bringing a six-foot-long Subway sandwich to staff at both the Woodland Villa long-term care home and the Sunset Cove retirement home in Long Sault: a sandwich so large it would allow him to hand it over without getting too close to the care workers.
"We were able to social distance with one person at each end of the sub," Smith said. "When I picked it up we had to put it in the back of my truck. We got a lot of attention loading it."
He did wonder if he should have had a red flag hanging off the sandwich, because "legally you're supposed to have a red flag at the end of a large load."
The staff were very appreciative of the gesture, Smith said.
"You couldn't see the smiles on their faces because of the masks, but you could see it in their eyes."
Smith is now calling on Canada to designate a day of recognition for frontline workers — including PSWs and maintenance staff. He plans to contact his network of fellow mayors and deputy mayors to see if they would lend their support to the idea.
"It's not a lot to give back," Smith said. "They deserve to have a day a year that they can call their own."
April 28
Out-of-work songbirds sing for seniors
With theatres and concerts shut down across the country, one woman has found a way for the show to go on.
The Ottawa-born writer and director Fiona Sauder has launched a project called the Songbirds Series. The public can commission a song from an out-of-work theatre artist and send the video to a friend or family member.
"It was really inspired by our need to connect and also our own sudden artistic idleness," Sauder told CBC's Ottawa Morning.
Sauder is the artistic director of Bad Hats Theatre in Toronto, but is riding out the lockdown at home in Ottawa.
The participating artists are from across Canada and the U.S., and would normally be performing in Toronto or at the Shaw or Stratford Festivals, or even on Broadway.
"Many of the artists on our roster are theatre artists whose jobs are essentially to empathize and to pay attention to stories of individual people," Sauder said.
"This initiative … is something that they're quite good at and makes them feel they are able to do something."
The fee to commission a song is $35. Sauder said most of the videos are being sent to seniors, with Leonard Cohen, Tom Jones and Anne Murray among the top requests.
If patrons want to give a bit more when they buy a song, the extra money will go toward a virtual Mother's Day concert Sauder is planning for May 10. Donations will be split between the artists and women's shelters.
April 27
Perth man's homemade game show delights audiences, boosts businesses
Move over, Jeopardy!: there's a new game show in town, and it's got people in Perth, Ont., tuning in by the hundreds.
Every night for the last few weeks, Ryan Murphy has broadcast the Car Car Truck Show from his kitchen on Facebook.
Audience members are invited to guess which vehicles will drive by his house first: car, truck, SUV, or van.
They can also take a shot at which of Murphy's cousin's roosters will cross the finish line first in a literal chicken run, name the tune that Murphy plays from his kid's phone, or send in a TikTok to be shared with the audience.
Westport, Ont., resident Christina Card has watched every single show. She says she tunes in to feel connected to her community while she's stuck at home alone.
"It's hilarious. Ryan's just a naturally funny, witty, dry-sense-of-humour guy," she said.
Murphy's charmingly homemade show doesn't just entertain friends and family, though. It's also given a much-needed boost to local businesses.
Every night, different sponsors purchase gift certificates to local restaurants, bars and golf courses to be given away as prizes.
"It doesn't seem like much," said Murphy. "But you don't know if that $100 that we spend now, when they're not open — maybe that's the one that keeps the lights on, or pays the cook."
Dan Allatt, the owner of O'Reilly's Ale House, has had a number of people buy gift certificates for his pub.
He also just loves the show.
"Everybody's sitting captively at home with very little to do, and Ryan's just given us something to give us excited about every day at 5:45," Allatt said.
Murphy did try to give up hosting the show after three weeks, but his fans demanded more — and now, there's likely only one way out.
"The only way I see Car Car Truck ending is by giving away a car," said Murphy, adding that he's already approached local dealers to see if they might agree to his plan.
"Hopefully by that time, the world will be back to normal — and there's no need to visit with me every night."
April 26
Sidewalk chalk talk reminds residents 'kindness doesn't cost a lot'
On a street in Beacon Hill, one sidewalk philosopher has set out to change her neighbourhood's attitude toward life under lockdown.
Victoria Lynes normally teaches yoga and mindfulness in schools. She says her focus is "working with the kids and figuring out with them how they can be kinder humans".
So at the start of the pandemic, when she saw posts in a community Facebook group by adults wanting to call the police on teenagers who weren't respecting physical distancing rules, she decided to act.
"I've just been trying to increase our sense of community during this time, rather than tear us apart," Lynes said.
That's why every day, between 3 and 4 p.m., she writes a quote in chalk on the sidewalk outside her house, from thinkers as wide-ranging as Mother Theresa and John Lennon.
Lynes said she wants to remind people "that kindness doesn't cost a lot."
Gloucester residents have now put Eastvale Drive on their walking route, she said, and she was thrilled when a neighbour across the street joined the mission with quotes in French outside their home.
They now call it "Chalk Talk with the Sidewalk Philosophers".
And as Desmond Tutu put it: "It's those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world."
April 25
Gatineau boy pitches his COVID-19 version of Monopoly
The board is square and the name is the same, but everything else about 12-year-old Alexandre Robillard-Nadon's edition of Monopoly is very different.
The properties are specific to the Aylmer neighbourhood where he lives, and include friends' and neighbours' houses as well as local restaurants. The jail has been turned into a hospital and the luxury tax is now a social distancing fine.
The Community Chest cards have been replaced with CBC News Flashes.
"It takes a lot of time to create the whole board, the cards, everything that comes in a Monopoly game," said Alexandre's mother, Geneviève Robillard. "But then we just thought, you know what? We have plenty of time on our hands, we're confined here at home, why not?"
The cheapest property for sale in COVID-19 Monopoly is one of Alexandre's favourite restaurants, and the most expensive are those they wish they could be visiting right now.
"The highest-priced are the grandparents' beautiful houses that we miss the most," said Robillard.
She says her son loves to play Monopoly and got the idea while playing the Stranger Things edition of the game.
"He likes to be the banker. I think it's all about the money. He's great at negotiating."
Alexandre pitched Monopoly's creators, Hasbro, the idea of personalized online versions of the game, but the company replied that due to legal reasons they had to reject his idea.
Instead, they suggested he attend the Young Inventor Challenge at the annual Chicago Toy and Game Week with his COVID-19 version of the game.
"It's great recognition from them," said his mother.
Alexandre is just content with the fact that the first time he played his version of Monopoly, he won the game.
April 24
Beer league issues charity challenge to other hockey teams
A recreational hockey league for seniors is calling on teams across the country to donate their ice time refunds to charities in their local areas.
The Ottawa Legends' season was cancelled when the COVID-19 lockdown started. When the rec centre where they play refunded their ice booking fees, the Legends decided to donate the refund money to the Ottawa Food Bank and the Ottawa Mission.
The two charities ended up splitting $7,000 equally.
"There's a lot of pain going around, so anything you can do to relieve the pain is just great," said Patrick Esmonde-White, one of the players.
Now he'd like to see other hockey teams in Canada do the same.
"We're hoping that people around the country, hockey teams that are just like us … they may have got a refund and they may say 'How do we split it up?' This gives them a better idea."
Esmonde-White says he's already been contacted by another team that's donated their $3,000 refund to charity.
"It's no great noblesse on our part, because it's found money," Esmonde-White said.
"In fact, we're saving money because we're not drinking as much beer."
April 23
Mosque volunteers deliver food to the needy
Two University of Ottawa students are spearheading a relief effort on behalf of the United Muslim Organizations of Ottawa-Gatineau (UMO-OG) to bring food to needy families in the city.
Mariam Aly and Soumaya Marhnouj are both in their third year at the university.
When the lockdown started last month, the tech-savvy women were asked to support the UMO-OG's efforts to organize the delivery of food boxes.
Marhnouj said this kind of charitable work was already being done by Ottawa's mosques, but after COVID-19 struck "we knew we had to widen the group of people that we actually reach."
Aly said the mosques turned to them to create a database of those in need "because we're young and we know how to use Google," but that quickly developed into the pair leading the project, along with their friend, Momin Janjua.
Now 300 volunteers are involved in ordering food, packing it into boxes and having it delivered to families in need in Ottawa.
"It's not just for Muslims, it's for the entire community, and there have been a lot of non-Muslims partaking in the program," Aly said, although she added that with Ramadan starting the team will be packing extra food and treats into the food boxes for families that will be fasting.
The group is also exploring whether a virtual Iftar — the sunset meal when Muslims break their daily Ramadan fast — could be held for the community over the virtual meeting app Zoom.
"Even if people aren't able to leave their homes and gather with the community, as long as they can have those Iftars at their homes ... and have enough food that they're able to enjoy that at home together is something that's really important to us," Marhnouj said.
April 22
Mother-daughter team help mobilize army of mask sewers
We've all seen them on social media: an energetic army of sewers putting in a stitch in time to save lives.
Now there's a website that aims to link those sewers to the people who need masks.
Tonya Dickenson got involved with Army of Masks after a friend in Florida asked her to help mobilize sewers in Canada. The website's goal is to connect local sewers across North America with the people in their communities who are in need of non-medical masks for personal use.
"If we don't flatten the curve fast, the next few years could be very, very tough," Dickenson said. "I believe masks are part of the solution."
She appealed to her mother, Ottawa-based cookbook writer Margaret Dickenson, to put down her recipe cards and dust off her 55-year-old sewing machine.
Margaret admits the first mask took her two hours, but now she's speeding along with an easier design. She said she's very proud of her daughter's efforts to help fight COVID-19.
"She was so passionate, I mean she was almost in tears. So I'm on board full time," she told CBC News.
Tonya Dickenson said she's grateful for the efforts of all the volunteers pitching in to help out right now.
"My biggest dream is a mask for every American and Canadian — and ideally two, because one should be in the wash!"
April 21
Kids share stories about life under lockdown
An Ottawa-based writer and mother of two has created a website where kids can share their own stories about life under lockdown.
The Kids Write now has 85 entries from children in eight different countries.
Jeni Armstrong launched the website April 1. She said it started when she asked her own kids to start keeping a diary of their COVID-19 experiences.
"Like millions of other parents across the country, my kids wrapped up their March Break and all of a sudden I wasn't just mom, I was also a teacher," she told CBC's Ottawa Morning host Robyn Bresnahan.
Armstrong said there are common themes like missing friends and being bored. One girl wrote that she was tired of eating "home food." Another boy described his excitement at getting a new puppy.
"Some of [the stories] are insightful, some are heartbreaking and quite sad, but the one thing they all are is honest," Armstrong said.
The website was given a big boost when Canada's chief public health officer, Dr. Theresa Tam, tweeted about it on April 4.
Armstrong said she hopes the children will read each others' stories and feel a little less alone.
"There was one 12-year-old in [a family shelter in] Ottawa who talked about how it was hard for his mum to buy things she needed at the grocery store," she said.
"Even stuff that's difficult to read reminds me that kids are paying attention, that they're grounded and that throughout all of the change and disruption, they remain who they are. And that really gives me a lot of hope."
April 20
Cleaner rescues clothes left at donation bins
An Ottawa woman has been washing and folding clothes left abandoned at a charity bin in Orléans in the hopes they won't end up in the landfill.
The bags of clothing had been piling up at a donation bin in the parking lot of St. Peter High School. Some had been opened and ransacked, and what was left was caught in the rain.
"It was just a hot mess," Sherry Legge told CBC. "You could see the bags and the stuff piling up."
Charities have appealed to the public to stop donating their clothes at this time because they have no capacity to collect and sort them for resale.
Legge runs a cleaning company and said she wanted to do something useful during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"I know a lot of people are sewing masks right now," she said. "I don't sew. But I can wash and I can do laundry, so that was my little bit that I thought would be able to help."
She started collecting the clothes bag by bag, and after making an appeal on social media, the Mission Thrift Store stepped in to collect the entire lot.
The clothing is now sitting in one of their trucks.
"Unfortunately, if she can't save it, it will be waste," Marc Poirier of the Mission Thrift Store said.
Legge has appealed to a local laundromat to let her come and bulk wash 30 to 40 bags of clothes at once.
"To know that all of that stuff would be just designated as garbage and waste because [it's been] out in the elements, it's just such a shame. Especially in the pandemic with so much job loss ... there will be an even greater need for these items in the future."
Poirer's hopeful Legge will be able to keep those clothes from going to waste.
"She's such a wonderful lady," he said. "She has really creative plans to get this all done."
April 19
Cute babies help spread public health message
Carly MacDonald says she really wants people to take the public health guidance to stay home and save lives seriously.
The 27-year old mom from New Liskeard, Ont., is immunocompromised, as is her 16-month old son, Lincoln.
"I think honestly what the government is asking — for people to stay home — is so simple in comparison to what other people have had to do for our country in the past," she said.
That's why MacDonald organized for more than two dozen of her friends to take photos of their adorable babies to help spread the word.
The photo montage has been shared on social media, as well as in the nursing home in North Bay, Ont., where MacDonald's mother works.
MacDonald says she thinks the campaign has helped raise awareness.
"There's nothing better than seeing little faces smiling. So I think the kids really did it for everyone."
April 18
Thrashing moistly: Ottawa metal band covers viral Trudeau riff
For those who can't get enough of it, the strange Canadian sensation that is Speaking Moistly is getting another boost after an Ottawa band created a thrash metal cover version of the internet hit.
Last week, an Edmonton musician created a song out of a gaffe Justin Trudeau made during a press conference.
The song went viral — in a good way — and as of Friday evening, has had 2.6 million views on YouTube.
Now an Ottawa metal band has done their own cover of the hit.
"We just couldn't stop laughing. He actually used Justin Trudeau to sing the song, which we thought was super funny," Armin Kamal, the lead singer of Infrared, told CBC News.
The group decided it would work as heavy metal, too. So they recorded their parts separately, spliced it all together and posted the result online.
"We thought the tune was so catchy we were just like, wouldn't this be awesome?" Kamal said.
The singer gives all credit to the Edmonton musician who created a song that, for better or worse, really sticks in your head.
"It's catchy because he wrote a good catchy tune … and I think a good melody will translate into any genre, and that's why I think it worked out for metal as well."
Infrared met in the 1980s as teenagers and played together for only five years. But the lifelong friends regrouped a few years ago and have had greater success, opening for well-known metal acts like Venom Inc. and Sacrifice.
Speaking Moistly is "a little happier-sounding than most of the songs we write or play," Kamal admitted, though right now that's probably a good thing.
"In these times, where everybody's so stressed out, just having some good fun is levity for everybody to [alleviate] a little bit of pressure."
April 17
What goes around comes around, paper carrier learns
Stan Hurlbert has been leaving chocolate milk out as a treat for his local paper carrier for years.
The retired waste collector remembers how hot and thirsty he used to get on his rounds, and wanted to let the local kids who deliver the Kemptville Advance know how much he appreciates their work.
Then, two weeks ago he came home and found a loaf of bread by his mailbox.
"I went, 'What the heck is that?'" Hurlbert said. "My neighbour said, 'I think it was the paper girl that left something there.'"
Georgia Davidson, 11, who took over the route in January, confessed to the good deed the next day. She told CBC she and her mother noticed how little there was on the grocery store shelves, and wanted to share with a neighbour who had been so kind to her.
"We were thinking there's barely any bread in the store, actually no bread. So we ended up putting one of our two breads in the bag and leaving it at his house," she said.
The gesture blew Hurlbert away. "You don't think that children are paying attention to the world, and yet she did this," he said. "Just the idea that she was returning the favour…. She thought of me, thinking that I would run out of food.... What a sweet little girl."
Georgia has learned an important lesson that what goes around comes around, according to her mother, Cynthia Davidson.
"When we started the paper route I thought it'd be a great opportunity for her to have some responsibility, to have some extra spending money.… I didn't anticipate the community outreach and the lessons to be learned," she said.
Georgia said she feels even the smallest acts of kindness can mean a lot right now.
"It's very important for people to do little gestures and help other people … because everybody's scared and they don't really know what's happening right now," she said.
Nepean High staff sing I'll be there for you to students
The words couldn't be more fitting for 2020:
No one told you life was gonna be this way
Your job's a joke, you're broke
Your love life's D.O.A
But it's the chorus — I'll be there for you — to that Friends theme song that teachers at Nepean High School really want their students to hear.
More than 40 staff members have posted a video on YouTube of them lip-synching and dancing to the song.
"It's in their nature for teenagers to want to be together and socialize, so this social distancing is quite tough for them," said Melissa Pregent, head of languages at Nepean and the teacher who organized the video.
She wants students to know that even if it hasn't been their day, their week, their month or even their year, their teachers are still there for them.
Nepean's communications technology teacher, Anne-Marie Theoret, took on the task of editing all the video clips together.
"Even though they're stuck at home without being able to see their friends … they're not alone," she told CBC News.
"We're still there and we're still ready to support them, and we can't wait for all of this to be over and get back to school and be able to be together again."
April 15
Instagram therapy dogs helping students stay positive
Carleton University's therapy dogs are used to helping stressed-out students take a little "paws" around exam time.
Now they've moved to Instagram to provide virtual support.
Shannon Noonan, the university's manager of student support and mental health outreach, says the 14 dogs in the program normally "provide love and support to students just by being their doggie selves."
She says students have been missing the animals since the campus closed. She decided to film her three-year-old Dalmatian Elroy having a nap and posted it live to social media.
"A bunch of people started tuning in and commenting, saying this is the kind of content we need during this kind of depressing time," Noonan said.
Elroy has been seen playing harmonica, Zak, seen above, has been reinforcing hand hygiene tips and Moose is just really cute having a nap.
Noonan says the fun part about sharing the video with the more than 2,600 followers of @cutherapydog is the positive feedback.
"You get pretty heartwarming comments from people just appreciating that this is not normal and that this is something bright and nice that we can put into the world."
April 14, 2020
Autism therapy centre offering free services
Routines have been thrown out the window for all families, but it's especially hard for those with children on the autistic spectrum.
That's why one local autism therapy centre is now offering to help with free virtual workshops and "camps" during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"What we're hearing is that many families are really overwhelmed," said speech and language pathologist Cindy Harrison, the CEO and president of ACT Learning Centre.
Harrison told CBC News that when the government announced its emergency wage subsidy program, the centre rehired staff they'd laid off and got their therapists back to work.
ACT is now offering free virtual workshops on topics such as how parents can talk about COVID-19 in a way that children with autism can understand.
One family Harrison has worked with was having difficulty with a highly anxious non-verbal child. She recommended they share an online storybook that had stick figures and a picture of the novel coronavirus in it.
The story, Harrison said, explained that while COVID-19 can make some people sick, if children stay home with their parents they'll be OK.
"It turned out what he was most worried about was that his mom and dad would get sick," Harrison said.
She says they've also set up a free virtual camp with a therapist in a "Zoom room" with a small group of young people.
"Some of the children we see are dinosaur aficionados, so we're doing things like dino trivia," she said.
Tara Bautista's five-year old daughter Aria has taken part in the camps.
"It's tough for families like ours to have our supports taken away," Bautista said. "So any time a family like ours gets any resource for free, it means a lot to us."
April 13, 2020
Gatineau artist sells paintings of Quebec's top doc
The COVID crisis is making superstars out of previously unknown health officials: Dr. Vera Etches in Ottawa, Alberta's Dr. Deena Hinsaw, and B.C.'s Dr. Bonnie Henry.
Quebec's Dr. Horacio Arruda has become the subject of dozens of internet memes, and has inspired the province to share recipes for Portuguese tarts.
Now a Gatineau artist is selling his paintings of Arruda — and other key political figures — and donating the proceeds to the Outaouais Youth Centre.
Christian Quesnel, best known for the graphic novel Ludwig, has raised $1,900 for the centre so far.
"Giving hope to people is a little bit the quote-unquote 'mission' right now." Quesnel told Radio-Canada. "It's my way of contributing to what's going on around me."
April 12, 2020
Isolated choir members sing together for Easter
People aren't allowed to gather in person for services this Easter weekend, but one community choir has managed to find a high-tech way to sing together.
The Caelis Academy Ensemble asked each of its members to record themselves on their phones singing songs for Holy Week.
One of the ensemble members then used professional editing software to merge the two dozen voices.
The editing process was extremely labour intensive, according to Matthew Larkin, the founding artistic director of Caelis Academy Ensemble.
"About a minute and a half of music is about seven hours' editing time. It's an enormous amount of work," he said.
The singers had to concentrate carefully to follow the piano track, as well as the video Larkin sent them of his conducting.
"You've got to be really disciplined about the timing," he said. "The slightest lack of attention or lack of focus can result in an early entry or a late entry, which would never happen in a live performance because everyone's watching the conductor."
WATCH: The Caelis Academy Ensemble performs the hymn Drop, Drop Slow Tears
April 11, 2020
Sharbot Lake residents to share Zoom Easter meal
There may not be high-speed internet in the small community of Sharbot Lake, Ont., but that's not stopping residents from trying to have Easter brunch together over the video conferencing app Zoom.
Amrit Kaillon is the founder of a local "caremongering" group that's organized for a low-cost Easter brunch to be delivered to 200 families, including many Meals on Wheels clients.
The $20 meal feeds four people and will be prepared by Seed to Sausage, an artisanal butcher based in Ottawa. Other Sharbot Lake businesses will provide drinks, apple crisp and chocolates for dessert.
Diners will be given instructions on how to connect over Zoom when their meals are delivered.
"We are in a small community, so our internet is not high-speed, like in the city. So we have to think about those logistical things as well," said Kaillon.
Whether or not the tech works in their favour, Kaillon says the project has brought the rural community — and the cottagers who visit it — together.
She says many people who own cottages have sponsored Easter meals for families who might be struggling right now.
"There's been a lot of discussion around cottagers staying in the city and not coming [to Sharbot Lake]. I was very surprised and happy to see that many cottagers in cities were calling to sponsor meals for people in the community," Kaillon said.
"It was really really nice, and makes your heart feel fuzzy and warm when that happens."
The international human rights lawyer has herself only recently returned home to Sharbot Lake after 20 years of living abroad.
"Having my daughter has changed everything. It's just changed what is important for me," Kaillon told CBC News. She came home so that her daughter can grow up in a small town and learn to care for her neighbours.
Kaillon is setting an example with the COVID-19 Support Group she founded.
"If anything this whole COVID-19 has taught us that no matter who we are, what we do, where we come from, we're all experiencing the same thing."
April 10, 2020
Minecraft Easter egg hunt aims to bring kids together online
An Ottawa company has helped create a virtual Easter egg hunt that will take place in a custom-made Minecraft world on Saturday.
The programmers have also built one for older kids in Roblox, another multiplayer online video game.
Children across Canada will be able to play with friends in the virtual world they can no longer visit in real life.
"It's a great way for kids across the country, even though they're stuck at home, to get together and have fun together," said Maurice Loiselle of Code Ninjas, a franchise that teaches kids to code while building their own video games.
Both games are free to enter. Children will log on and then search for Easter eggs within the virtual worlds. White eggs will be the easiest to find, yellow slightly more difficult, and black the most challenging to find.
Loiselle was set to open the Barrhaven branch of Code Ninjas on March 16, but has had to keep his doors shut due to the pandemic.
When he can eventually start his business, Loiselle says he hopes games like this will inspire children to build their own worlds — and learn how to write computer code.
April 9, 2020
Grandmother cleans mailboxes to protect postal workers
A Nepean woman and her grandson have been washing down mailboxes in the Tanglewood neighbourhood in an effort to protect mail carriers from catching COVID-19.
"We take our bucket and our scrub brush every day. We take turns doing the scrubbing and the other person does the wiping and drying," Julia Hill said in an interview.
She explained the duo are cleaning the banks of community mailboxes near their condo, as well as some that are stationed farther down the road, 112 individual boxes in all.
Hill says she's using the experience to teach her grandson, Lucas Valpy, 7, about community service.
"It's just the importance of solidarity and being part of the community and doing what you can," she said.
"I have a daughter-in-law who's a nurse… I am really worried about her, I wish I could do more to protect her. It made me think about how postal workers and their families must be feeling about their safety, and how they must be frightened a lot of the time as well."
Lucas is happy to be helping, calling it "really fun."
Their local mail carrier recently shouted out a thank you — from a safe distance. Hill is now hoping more people will take up a bucket and scrub brush to protect front-line workers.
April 8, 2020
Letters of hope at a long-term care home
Each window has a single letter, but read them together and the message coming from Carlingview Manor Long Term Care Home is clear: inspire, embrace, triumph, success, courage and more.
Thanks Carlingview, we're all in this together.
April 8, 2020
Family celebrates mother's life with help from local restaurant
When Hilda Gervin passed away last week at the age of 94, her family wasn't able to have the kind of funeral they wanted.
"The service would have been at St Luke's and the church ladies would have had amazing food prepared for everyone," Gervin's daughter, Karen Deme, told CBC News.
Instead, there were only seven family members in the funeral home chapel, each sitting in separate pews to maintain their distance. After the service, there was nowhere for Deme to take her father, Bill Gervin, to have a special meal.
Deme phoned up her parents' favourite restaurant, Chances R on Woodroffe Avenue in Nepean. The Gervins had been going there twice a week for over a decade.
"They always sat at the same table, went at the same time, and everyone there was always so kind to my parents," Deme said.
Unfortunately the restaurant was closed. But owner Mike Bouris still wanted to do something for such loyal customers.
"They've been coming to the restaurant forever. The most polite, genuine, kind people that you'll meet," Bouris said.
The restaurant is still making meals for their 50 staff members, so Bouris prepared extra for the Gervin family to take home to eat.
"He was so touched, my father … when I said [the meal] was from Chances R," Deme said. "The restaurant itself means so much to him, and it did to my mother as well."
April 7, 2020
Kids dress up to honour essential workers
Children from Steve MacLean Public School in Riverside South got all dressed up last week as a way to say thank you to Ottawa's essential workers.
The virtual spirit day was organized by Grade 1 french immersion teacher Stephanie Dubuc.
"It was really cute," she said. "The feedback and the response was fantastic."
The students were obviously limited to costumes they had at home, but Dubuc said they still managed to dress up as a range of essential workers including doctors, nurses, firefighters, chefs, grocery store workers and mail carriers.
Dubuc said the children learned about their own role and responsibilities during the pandemic, but for the teachers the greatest joy was in seeing the photos that were shared afterwards.
"It was so great to see our little students' faces that we haven't seen in so many weeks," she told CBC News.
"We miss them so much, and it was really lovely to see those that shared [photos] with us."
April 7, 2020
Hip-hop nurse raises money for hospital
Alea de Castro is a nurse who moonlights as a street dance teacher. Now she's combining her two careers into a fundraiser for staff and patients at The Ottawa Hospital.
Her company, MOOV Ottawa Dance, normally hosts monthly street dance battles at city hall. Now they're offering online classes over Facebook Live. Instead of payment, she's asking students to donate to the hospital's COVID-19 emergency response fund.
"All the money that's raised will go directly to the hospital," de Castro told CBC. "In turn, it really goes towards the whole community being a safer place."
De Castro is working on the front line, testing patients who present at the hospital's Civic campus for COVID-19.
"You can't deny that it is a little scary," she said about working at the hospital right now. "But at the end of the day we got into it because we want to care for people."
She says she and her partner, Arnaldo Betancourt Silva, stay positive by dancing. "We feel like it's important to move, to dance and enjoy music, even in this really difficult time."
The next Facebook Live class will be held Tuesday afternoon at 4 p.m.
April 6, 2020
Principal acts on school motto
Last week we told you about a stranger who ignored social distancing rules to help Scott Miller while he was having an epileptic seizure. (Scroll further down to read that story.)
Today Victoria White, the principal of St. Philip Catholic Elementary School, emailed to say she was that stranger.
"I was out for a walk when I could see family members panicking as they were looking for Scott. The only thing to do was to help. Even when the world is topsy-turvy it's important to look out for other people."
St. Philip's school motto? Go be kind Falcons.
There's a teacher who's practising what she preaches!
April 6, 2020
Deliveries 'a godsend' for seniors stuck inside
For seniors or people with compromised immune systems, staying inside may be the only way to stay safe right now.
That may mean not even making trips to the grocery store for food, or to the pharmacy to pick up medicine.
One local company is stepping in to help.
Even as it faces uncertain times in its industry, Ottawa General Contractors is dedicating one of its own drivers to run errands for seniors.
Fares Elsabbagh, the company's president, said it has helped 30 people so far — and the driver, Abe Abbas, is "loving what he's doing".
Nora Drouillard and her husband Mike haven't left the house since March 12th. She has asthma and diabetes, so the couple is being extremely cautious about avoiding COVID-19.
"It's been a godsend," Drouillard said of the grocery delivery.
Abbas picked up the groceries they had ordered online, she said, as well as their prescriptions and even the food they needed for their dog.
"We asked if we could tip the driver, but he said no," Drouillard said. "So we're going to make a donation in the company's name instead."
April 5, 2020
Mysterious joker keeps Kanata light-hearted
Tim emailed CBC to say that someone was posting jokes on lampposts on Steeplechase Drive in the Bridlewood area of Kanata.
"My 12-year-old and I had a few laughs when we were out for a walk [recently]," he said in an email to CBC News.
"It brightened up our day."
April 4, 2020
Vanier neighbours 'kick it like it's 1986'
Residents on Carlotta Avenue were rebels just for kicks this week, dancing at the end of their driveways to Feel it Still by Portugal. The Man.
Of course, if it were 1986, they wouldn't have to stand so far apart.
April 3, 2020
Mother's shout out to stranger who helped epileptic son
Donna Miller wants to thank the stranger who came to the aid of her son Scott, 34, while he was having an epileptic seizure.
Scott Miller has been having life-threatening seizures since he had surgery to remove a brain tumour when he was 16.
Every day he takes his dog Willow out for a walk in Barrhaven. Last Friday when he didn't return on time, Donna knew something was wrong. She and the rest of the family went out to find him.
That's when a stranger stopped to offer to help.
Scott was located semi-conscious in the Farley Mowat Public School playground. Miller says the friendly neighbour stayed with Scott — who was bleeding from his head and nose from his collapse — while Miller went home to get help.
"She was absolutely steadfast in staying with us," Miller said, adding that if she knew her name, she would pass on this message:
"I would be telling her how grateful I am for the kindness she extended, especially in this COVID situation where we're to stay great distances apart. She just sprung into action, and for that I'm doubly grateful."
April 3, 2020
Your tributes in CBC Ottawa's new Facebook group
A member of CBC Ottawa's new "We're all in this together" Facebook group posted this tribute to the hardworking people who come and take the garbage and recycling away in Riverside South. Keep your pictures coming! We'll share some of them here.
April 3, 2020
Babies who volunteer move to online visits
Jessica Turner is determined not to let COVID-19 get in the way of bringing happiness to Ottawa's seniors.
She runs a non-profit group that organizes for mothers and babies to visit people in retirement homes and respite centres, reading stories and sharing cuddles. Babies Who Volunteer has 2,000 members who visit 50 homes across the region.
They shut down their visiting program in March but as of Friday they have launched virtual visits via the video communications app Zoom.
"We didn't want to just stop that, knowing that the seniors were going to be in lock down and weren't going to have their families visiting," Turner said.
"This might be the only contact that they have, the only joy that they get right now."
The first virtual visit will take place at the Richmond Care Home. Babies Who Volunteer hope they can expand to other centres soon.
Teacher hoping to inspire students with Lady Gaga parody
The messages from public health agencies are clear: Stand two metres apart. Wash your hands. Don't touch your face.
For Kingston, Ont., art and music teacher Kristen Martin, that last directive became the inspiration for a creative project.
She decided to make a parody video of Lady Gaga's chart-topper Poker Face to both drive the message home, and encourage her Sydenham High School students to use their time creatively.
"I have no idea why, but the mum-mum-mum-mah kind of just became co-ro-na-na in my head," Martin said.
"It's been about three weeks in my tiny little apartment with just me and my cat. I've been looking for ways to stay entertained."
So far she's received videos of guitar playing and TikTok dances back from her students.
"I think the arts are a great way to get rid of that energy we're feeling when we're all pent up at home," she said. "It's less lonely when you can be creative."
See the full version of her parody video here.
April 2, 2020
High-end chefs cooking for low-income families
Joe Thottungal of the Coconut Lagoon and Thali restaurants is one of the most celebrated chefs in Ottawa. And now even more so — because as of last week he's providing free meals to some of the city's most vulnerable.
With ingredients supplied by the Food For Thought Café, Chef Joe and friends are providing 2,000 meals a week to homeless families living in shelters, many of whom are refugees.
Next week they hope to ramp up to 3,000 meals a week.
"Joe has been such a big community champion," Food for Thought Cafe director Abhijit Potdar told CBC's Ottawa Morning.
"A lady came to us and said, 'we never thought we were going to see a hot meal or real food in this space,' because again they live in a motel facility and the only kitchen equipment they have is a microwave oven and a mini-fridge."
Potdar says chefs from North & Navy, Absinthe and Thyme & Again are joining Thottungal in the Thali kitchen and will expand the menus being offered.
April 1, 2020
First responders salute hospital staff
Police and firefighters tipped their hats to the staff at the Queensway Carleton Hospital for all their hard work.
Ottawa doc raises money for hospital staff meals
One good turn deserves another, as the saying goes. So after the owner of Meatheads Grill in Orléans dropped off free burgers to staff at The Ottawa Hospital one night last week, Dr. Kwadwo Kyeremanteng had an idea.
"The impact it had on morale was insane," said the intensive and palliative care physician in an interview with CBC News. "It's extremely tough times for front-line workers right now … so these little gestures meant the world to the team."
On Thursday, he and the group who work on his health-care podcast launched a GoFundMe campaign with a goal of raising $3,000 to buy meals for hospital staff working on COVID-19 wards. Within six days, they had raised almost $25,000.
They're now trying to drop off meals every few days at the General, Civic, Queensway Carleton and Montfort hospitals, as well as the COVID-19 testing site at Brewer Arena. They're also making sure to buy the meals from small, local restaurants that need the business.
Kyeremanteng said one nurse told him the gesture was a huge pick-me-up.
"'The tension just was relieved within the intensive care unit. We started to talk about things that weren't COVID-related, and we were smiling again,'" Kyeremanteng said the nurse told him.
"It meant the world to get messages like that."
Roofer scales new heights for front-line workers
Many small businesses are facing uncertain times right now. But roofer Byron Bustillo of BB's Roofing is using his downtime to step up. He put out a message on Facebook offering to do small repair jobs for front-line workers and seniors, free of charge.
Alicia Robblee is an ICU nurse at The Ottawa Hospital who was stunned when her neighbour called Bustillo to fix her leaking eavestrough. Water was pouring into the window wells of Robblee's Westboro home, putting her basement at risk of flooding.
"It brought me to tears," Robblee said. "In my job right now it's very tense … and just knowing that there was somebody who wanted to take their time to help nurses and other health professionals, it really touched me."
Robblee said when Bustillo finished the job he actually thanked her for her nursing work. Bustillo said he wishes he could do more.
"Just being able to help out the community and give back to the people who have been giving to me all these years makes me feel good," Bustillo told CBC News.