The Cornerstone shelter after the fire (photo: CBC)

I don’t really know how I got into this Cornerstone thing. I personally blame Ian Capstick. But in any case, here we are, almost at Christmas, and while you’re all undoubtedly busy, I’m asking you for help again.

A quick recap:

• November 8: a fire at Cornerstone, a women’s shelter operated by the Anglican Church in Ottawa, kills 61-year-old Judith Werner and leaves 19 without shelter.
  
• November 14: another fire near Cornerstone. This time, a rooming house occupied mostly by international students burns, leaving another 17 women in need of shelter.
• November 15: Ian Capstick’s Mediastyle blog posts a list of resources to help people affected by both of these fires.
• November 16-20: Boldly leaping on Ian’s bandwagon (holding to the old saying that “talent borrows and genius steals”), I offer to spend a few hours on Friday picking up stuff that is needed. Bloggers, tweeters, and other good people donate nearly $400 in cash, phone cards, bus tickets, etc., and FILL my wee Honda Fit with so much stuff it takes three people 10 minutes to unload it at The Well.
• December 15: funding announced for a new shelter for Cornerstone. However, it’s going to be months before Cornerstone residents are out of temporary housing, and in the meantime are living in a shelter with inadequate kitchen facilities.

So this year, we put a lot of new windows in our house. And the window company (the excellent Valley Siding & Windows) was kind enough to give us — and its other customers — a turkey for Christmas as a thank you for the business.

Now, Cath and I have healthy appetites. But a big old turkey’s a bit much for the two of us. So we’re going to cook ours up and give it to Cornerstone on New Year’s Day. And that’s where you come in.

What you did for Cornerstone last time

I’d like to deliver a FULL dinner to Cornerstone. So if you want to contribute vegetables, soup, dessert, apple cider, cranberry sauce — whatever you want to make — please leave me a comment with some contact information. I will get back to you, we’ll arrange a pickup time on January 1st, and you will EARN that New Year’s hangover with a good deed to start the year. Can’t cook? Then get a phone card, or a Tim Horton card, or some bus tickets, or a gift card for a places like McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Subway, Harvey’s, Giant Tiger, Zellers, Loblaws, Metro, cheques, or cash to me. (According to Cornerstone, four $5 cards are better than one $20).

Don’t let me down, Ottawa. I know you can do it.

Ottawa, you are generous. Well done. I’ll post pictures of the booty as I pick it up.

UPDATED: This is what generosity looks like:

$110 in bus tickets.

Fit full of stuff

Pickup #3

I missed out on delivering the clothes and other goods to The Well. But I did get the bus tickets, $125 in cheques, Tim Horton’s cards, gift cards, $100+ in cash, and toiletries and other goods to Cornerstone’s temporary location.

So if you have stuff, send me a message. I’ll get it over the weekend and deliver it with the other stuff on Monday.And if you want to donate online, you can do that through Canada Helps, right here. Just click and give. You’ll be glad you did.