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*CNDC will gratefully take anything a child can use â€" call 745â€"9461 (mornings)* "We are happy here," smiled Vera. "In my country, the war has stopped but it is a light peace. It is good here. Canadians is beautiful The Polics and their two children, ages two and cight, arrived in Canada from the camps with just one suitcase. Our federal government provided each child with a winter coat and boots. The CNDC provided the snow pants, a back pack for school, socks, underwear. All used. All desperately needed. Vera, a petite, handsome woman, told me her kids love it here. Her eight year old didn‘t like school much in the camps, but enjoys it now. "‘She is very good at mathematics." said the proud Mom. mer Yugoslavia, and Zorna, an economist, came to translate for the new arrvals. The two couples met in a refugee camp in Bosnia. The day I visited the CNDC, a newly arrived family from Bosnia was also at the centre. They were brought by another Bosnian couple, Vera anid Zorna Polic, who themselves came to Kitchener only five months ago. Vera, who taught high school literature and philosophy in the forâ€" There is presently a great need at the CNDC for clothing, toys, bikes and strollers. Many items have long waiting lists, especially the bikes. On average, the centre assists 10â€"13 families every week. 'TMsmaH-fl.'My“‘Thpequbmdncmâ€" tre contribute back to our community." Six of the present volunteers were former users of the centre. ' | _ Families are allowed two visits a year, [ 4 | usually spring and fall, and on arrival | gt | are given a gentle guideline of what is 4 P appropriate to take. The information is wew BP recorded in the CNDC files. Of the thousands of children helped by the centre using this honor system, Penny can recall only one case where a family abused these rules. In turn, the families return the goods back to the entre when they are finished with them. No wonder she feels that way. One of the first she met was Penny A former special education teacher, now a homemaker and young mother of two, Penny is quick to point out that the CNDC is the result of many peoples efforts. She shrugs off any suggestion of praise, saying "It brings a lot of joy to my life. I‘ve | M made many friends." m But to the many families who come to the centre, "Miss Penny" is very special. Fm Over 80 per cent of the families that come to the CNDC are new Canadians, the rest are families undergoing, in ! Penny‘s words, "financial struggles" The name says it all The Children‘s Need Distribution Centre (CNDC) collects used clothing, toys, bikes â€" anything useful for kids â€" and distributes it to needy kids in our community. Families use the centre at no charge. The centre receives no funding from any governâ€" ment agency. It is staffed entirely by volunteers, and, it works. The centre sprung from an idea Penny Kibble had in December 1992. Dropping off used items for newly arrived Somalian refugees at the local YWCA, Penmy asked who was collecting for the families. When told that no one was, she brought a proposal to her church requesting space in the basement to collect and redistribute goods "for the chilâ€" dren". In February of 1993, the CNDC was born. % | g‘ »"; BP Lisa O‘Connell It may look like an ordinary church basement, but it‘s not. Deep within Highland Baptist Church something wonderful is hapâ€" pening. It is here that some of the most compassionate work in our community is being done. The type of work that everybody talks about, but few do. This is the type of work that is being done every day at The Children‘s Need Distribution Centre. Fax No. Waterloo Town Square 75 King St. South, Suite 201 Waterloo, Ontario N2J 1P2 Pete Cudhea Tim Gardner Deborah Crandall Denise Tucker Bill Karges Not so.. Not so. Our heelâ€"dragging councillors notwithâ€" standing, they are getting only a reprieve. Mike Harris and friends have decided that the province has had enough reform right now. They‘re taking a breather and more changes will deull: on of Wt Regil n ap ts yom o ie e jon is kaput. int to the '!*?‘bgwwhctwmfdmhnpmmmwfmmm Tlhg\lhys:lnc&n-lly,spahngo{mands«ufi,did ywnodullmfonyll&s'ww&ilishgovmmthsgg. nalled a continuing welfare crackdown? And this from a Labor W‘Andymlnwlhtclmlsmsillatfmflny don‘t care as long as it‘s free. It‘s too bad the Opposition parties just can‘t - concede that instead of going into contrived disâ€" may. And as far as I‘m concerned, Emie Eves is a good treasurer. I‘m always a little suspicious of anyone whose job involves money. My idea of a great treasurâ€" er is the Venus de Milo. But let‘s make no mistake: For all its goodies the budget had enough smoke and mirrors to remind you that the game is still politics. And the PCs started getting things in shape for the next election. All in all, the budget represented a remarkable set of achievenents. Like everyone else, 1 welcome the tax cuts, but gosh, I would have been happy enough just to not have an increase. That would be in such contrast to what the NDP and Grits did to us that it would be cause enough for at least a minor celebration. Iy must have been hard for Messrs. McGuinty and Hampton to crank up their looks‘of pain. Maybe they wore shoes two sizes too small to get the right facial expression. â€" mmmmememmme Fiscal Workout: Most Ontario taxpayers were more than content with treasurer Ernie Eves‘ second budget, but, to hear the rival party leaders tell it, the numbers were tragic. Local folks started out thinking they understood the basics of the hospital situation, but since then event has piled upon event so that now anybody who isn‘t confused doesn‘t know what‘s going on. Venus de Milo‘s my choice for treasurer Millie Martin Darlene Royle Group Publisher: Cheryl McMenemy Jerry Fischer Evan Mitchell Matthew Hayes d coummidin dn ESm nSpmp SE Waterloo Chronicle ONCE OVER LGHTLY The Fairway Group Subscription rates 240 Holiday Inn Dr., Unit F $45 yearly in Canada. Cambridge, On. $90 yearly outside Canada N3C 3X4 *+GSX Still, to be fair, 1 can recall Firecracker Days when I shivered while igniting the noisemakers. Those couldn‘t have been idy}â€" lic May days. > We better have some soon because an army of gardeners is m:g‘wgnmwfihbhbbyummldomx;; or growing anything, even house plants. I once a hanging fen and the rope died. That would make him a big, fat fibber because earlier he‘d promised there‘d be negotiations. But it would be all of a piece with the moral outlook of some Quebec politicians: Theyd steal a hot stove and come back for the smoke. Shmekthth;Say,woddp-fldMovmm "global warming" jazz just one more time. , It‘s hard to believe when just about every day serves up rain and chill winds. ; They are so prone to parrot the virtues of "local control," but, just as one example, let‘s remember that "local control" is giving Kitchener a $200,000 skateboard centre it so desperateâ€" ly doesn‘t need. * Then the fur will fly. The Waterloo Region politicians who shrugged off garbage savings of up to $1 million will be wonâ€" dering what‘s happened. That troupe of antediluvian throwâ€" backs won‘t know what‘s hit them. await the next election kpuHBkquWedmfib; That came about the time that Jackie Parizeau was denying that had the separatists won the referendum he‘d have taken Quebec out of Canada within the week. accolades bigâ€"time! Now this fair Dominion has got a cover article in Time Canada which trumpets Canada as the envy of the worlds 5.8 billion people as a nation that projects an over all image of tranquility, prosperity and order Uninformed? You bet. Most of our regional councillors couldn‘t find their fanny with both The sooner we reduce local government t one level the better off we‘ll be. And let‘s hope the troglodytes do the region and their com munities a favor by retiring en masse. Hurrah for Our Side: Talk about getting to the Tories system to their "restru laid off nurs which hospi spending wi layoffs and Voters sl Keptici and any . promised i He added for the weal it has result tion and co pain, but th somehow al said their five years and their Breâ€"X gold ernment‘s goal is to your po