Events at OFVIC

The Ontario Foundation for Visually Impaired Children

EVENTS

OFVIC’s 8th Annual “See It Our Way” Walkathon

We are pleased at the success of this year’s walkathon. The weather was superb, encouraging many participants to come out to beautiful High Park for the scenic 5 kilometer walk. It was wonderful to see everyone come together and build an atmosphere of fun and enthusiasm to achieve our ultimate goal. It was great to see many former students and their families return to High Park Forest School to join in supporting the Walkathon. Collectively, we make a difference for the children and their families. Thank you for taking the time to come out and support OFVIC. The Walkathon raised over $18,000 that will be used to support the programs for the children and their families.

“Special thanks to all our Walkers, and to their friends, families and colleagues who supported them!!”

“We appreciate and thank all the volunteers who worked so hard to help make this Walkathon a success!”

It was a lot of fun to see so many people sharing stories, making new friends, enjoying the food and the prizes. A special thanks to Peggy Nash, MP for Parkdale-High Park, who came out to support OFVIC once again with her kind words of support and encouragement at the start line. Many thanks also to Jeff Goodes at CBC Radio who promoted our Walkathon on CBC’s Fresh Air Show and for coming to our Walkathon with his friends, smiles and enthusiasm!

Fundraising activities are essential to OFVIC as a community agency providing services and programs to infants, toddlers and preschoolers who are blind or low-vision and their families. All fundraising dollars are crucial in order for us to maintain the quality services that the children need. The money raised will be used to offset the funding shortfall in our preschool program and our consultation service to families and community settings.

OFVIC truly appreciates everyone’s support!! We couldn’t do it without you!

Congratulations to the Thomson Family who raised the highest amount for the walkathon for the third year in a row!!!
Thank you,thank you, thank you!!

Plans are already underway to continue the “See It Our Way” Walkathon tradition. We hope to count on everyone’s support again next year on Sunday, May 24^th, 2009.

Due to the generosity of our corporate and individual donors, the barbeque and raffle after the walk were once again a fabulous success. With special thanks and appreciation to:

Alternative Grounds

Lucy Annarilli

Canada Bread

Casa Loma

Del’s Pastry Ltd.

Dominion Stores

Ellie Medarev

Ennis Family Farm

Erwin Yager

Fortinos - Etobicoke

Frito Lay Canada

Gilda’s Club

Johnny the Wrench Plumbing and Contracting

Keg Restaurants Ltd.

Maple Leaf Foods

Ontario Place

Ontario Science Centre

Penny Pantazopoulos

Pepsi-QTG Canada

Rena Shadowitz

Sam’s Club – Etobicoke

Solo Cup Canada

Stephen Drummond and Robert Presant

Trolio Family

And to all our donors who wish to remain Anonymous …. We thank you!

Photo credits courtesy of Nancy Howson. Thanks for capturing the memories for us Nancy!!

Many thanks to Mirvish Productions for the generous donation to our 2007 Walkathon of the two tickets for the hit musical "We Will Rock You". The lucky winners of the tickets were Andrea and Stuart Thomson, a past OFVIC family, and the walkers who raised the most money for OFVIC at the 2006 and 2007 Walkathons. Thanks so much for your support!!

The Thomson’s share their story with us:

"Our daughter Megan suffered a brain injury as a result of seizures just days after she was born which resulted in neurological visual impairment. Megan turned 5 in March and OFVIC has been part of our lives since she was only a few months of age, by way of bi-weekly in-home services when she was an infant until the age of two. In addition, she attended OFVIC's specialized preschool in High Park for 2 years. This unique environment helped Megan to learn to use her limited vision to function most effectively. We are very thankful that Megan had the opportunity to attend this exceptional preschool.

Even though, Megan is no longer attending the OFVIC preschool, OFVIC has been there to support Megan's transition every step of the way. Since the staff at Megan's new school were not familiar with Neurological Visual Impairment, OFVIC provided an educational workshop to all the Grandview Staff. Also, Megan's vision consultant visits her at the school once a month to assist the school staff with developing teaching strategies for Megan as well as home visits.

These are just some of the ways that our family has been supported by OFVIC. Through fund-raising during the annual Walkathon, we hope to ensure that other children like Megan and their families also receive the vision services that they need.

We were pleasantly surprised to be the top fundraisers for the walk for the last 2 years in a row. As a result OFVIC kindly presented us with a gift certificate for the musical 'We Will Rock You' presented by Mirvish productions. We thoroughly enjoyed our evening out and look forward to fundraising again this year!!
See you at the walk!!"
Andrea & Stuart Thomson

Spring Raffle

OFVIC’s 5^th annual raffle was held on:

Tuesday, April 15^th, 2008

at 7:00 p.m. at the High Park Forest School, Building 49 Colborne Lodge Drive, Toronto.

Many wonderful prizes were won!!

Thanks to everyone who supported the Spring Raffle. Your contribution truly makes a difference!!

The winning ticket numbers (drawn in order from the prize with the least value to the highest) are:

0609, 2186, 0214, 0556, 0301, 1146,

0502, 0306, 3798

Lottery Licence #M592109

First Prize: One Night Accommodation for Two at the Millcroft Inn & Spa (Sunday through Monday) with dinner, breakfast and $100 towards spa services (Value: $532.80)

Second Prize: Toronto Raptors 2004-2005 Signed Basketball including Letter of Authenticity (Value:$350)

Third Prize: One pair of Ladies 14kt. yellow gold hoop style Earrings with hinged backs, including appraisal (Value:$175)

Fourth Prize: One pair of Ladies 10kt. yellow gold twist hoop Earrings with lever hinges, including appraisal (Value:$120)

Fifth Prize: Two tickets to the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (Value:$110)

Sixth Prize: Omnitech DVD Player (Value:$50)

Seventh Prize: One Year Subscription to Wish Magazine (Value:$50)

Eighth Prize: Swiss Chalet Gift Card (Value:$30)

Ninth Prize: Wine Opening Set (Value:$25)

Call the OFVIC office at 416-767-5977 for any further information.

The sequence of draws was from the prize of lowest value to the prize of highest value.
Tickets can only be sold to persons 18 years of age and older.
Raffle tickets must only be sold to persons located in Ontario.
Each ticket sold may only win one prize.
All winners will be notified within one week of the draw date.
Winning ticket numbers are posted here and also the local paper (Bloor West Villager).

Click here for instructions on how to donate online.

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