The Beatles had it right! With everything going on right now, we could all use a little help from our friends.

We CAN come together, right now, to support our community.

The Barrie Food Bank provides needed assistance to those in our community who require it most.

Our Food Bank is 100% funded and supplied by the community.

There’s also The Sharing Place Food Centre in Orillia.

The Sharing Place Food Centre is a community-based not-for-profit organization dedicated to helping Orillia area residents living with food insecurity.

And don’t forget about other non-profit organizations in our community that are being impacted right now.  Consider an organization close to you that could also use your support, like the Women & Children Shelter of Barrie, Youth Haven Barrie, RVH Foundation and the Orillia Soldier’s Memorial Hospital Foundation.

Click on the images below to find out more and consider making a donation if you can.

We want to hear about, and share how you are supporting the community, either as a business or an individual!

Click the link below to see how local businesses are helping serve the community in their way – and if you run a business you can tell us what you’re doing at this link too!

HEALTH SECTOR DONATIONS

As an individual, tell us below (and add a photo if you can), how you’re coming together to support those in your community.

We’ll be sharing your stories ON AIR, as well as our Facebook and Instagram pages!

We want to celebrate coming together as a community, and give you the recognition you deserve for stepping up supporting each other in a time where we need community the most!

Now…for some more Beatles puns to brighten your day:

• Yesterday, all our troubles seemed so far away…but things have changed quickly!
• Unfortunately, right now I DON’T Wanna Hold Your Hand
• I’m Happy Just To Dance With You…via FaceTime
• I expect daily dog photos…Eight Days A Week!

Come Together

The City of Orillia has extended free transit and parking until July 5th. All pre-purchased April Orillia Transit passes and April Municipal Parking permits will be honoured until July 5th.

The City of Barrie is extending free bus services until July 2nd and has added more safety measures for drivers and passengers. These measures include:

• boarding the bus from the back doors
• limiting capacity to a maximum of 15 passengers
• spaced out seating and daily sanitization
• increased educational information on buses about COVID-19 precautions
• personal protective equipment for drivers
• installation of hand sanitizer dispensers on buses
• plexiglass protective operator shields are currently being tested on select buses, with the plan to install them on the entire fleet in the next few weeks
• encouraging passengers to wear non-medical masks while riding public transit

Congratulations to Molded Precision Components who have produced their 1 MILLIONTH face shield! These face shields will be distributed to our Federal and Provincial Governments for our Front Line Workers!

The United Way Simcoe Muskoka is now accepting applications for the Emergency Community Support Fund!  If you are part of a non-for-profit organization or charity who is responding to the needs of vulnerable community members during the COVID-19 pandemic, please visit their Facebook Page!

The Street Cats Rescue “Empties Fundraiser” has raised $8300 so far! If you have empties (beer bottles/cans, wine bottles or liquor bottles) you can drop them off at one of following locations!

United Way Simcoe Muskoka is funding several local services and resources to support vulnerable seniors age 55 and over. These programs have been funded by the Government of Canada’s New Horizons for Seniors Program. United Way Simcoe Muskoka will distribute $137,000 among several organizations across Simcoe Muskoka to ensure that the needs of local seniors are met. These organizations include Barrie Community Foundation, Catholic Family Services of Simcoe County, CONTACT Community Services, Elder Abuse Muskoka, Independent Living Services, Muskoka Seniors, Ryde Community Co-op, and Gravenhurst Against Poverty (GAP). The services provided will address mental health and social isolation, barriers to accessibility and mobility, and assist with access to food, transportation and digital supports.

If you are a Simcoe Muskoka resident and require assistance, you are encouraged to contact 211 (dial 2-1-1) to be connected to local resources and services.

Georgian College has answered the call from health-care partners across our communities and have included students in the Medical Engineering Technology program to assist the Research and Innovation team by manufacturing temporary face shields. Kubota Materials Canada Corporation in Orillia has collaborated with Georgian on this initiative by using the company’s two 3D printers to produce and supply parts for masks and face shields. They have produced just over 10,000 masks – approximately 2,000 being distributed to the RVH and the remainder to Orillia Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital, Stevenson Memorial in Alliston and several smaller clinics in Orillia and Midland.

The City of Barrie has released a list of facilities that will reopen as part of Phase One of Ontario’s reopening plan!

The Tiffin Boat Launch has opened and will operate under the following guidelines: only boat with members of your household, ensure physical distance of at least 2 metres from people outside your household and keep your distance on the water, don’t raft!

As of May 22nd, Barrie’s Marina boat launch and transient boat docks will reopen.

The Off Leash Dog Park located on Bayview Drive has reopened.

Tennis courts owned by the City of Barrie are anticipated to reopen week of May 25th. Physical distancing and sanitation guidelines will remain in place.

The City of Barrie announced that the landfill will open to the public on Thursday May 14th. The landfill will be open Tuesday-Saturday 9am-3pm for urgent and essential drop offs only and Household Hazardous Waste Facility will be open Saturdays only, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Materials that are considered urgent and essential drop offs include items from legal proceedings and damaged items from a flood, fire or weather related incident.

Do you like gardening or are you interested in trying it? Barrie residents have created the Facebook group “Barrie Urban Gardeners” to promote local food security. Anyone is welcome to join the group and share their gardening tips, ideas and resources and to coordinate safe seed/seedling swaps.

The City of Barrie has launched the “Together At Home” digital hub, which provides a variety of recreational activities and resources to keep people of all ages and entertained at home. Use the hashtag #togetherathome to share what activities you have been up to and to connect with others! Visit buildingbarrie.ca/TogetherAtHome for more details!

Delta Bingo and Gaming is responding to the need for PPE to protect Ontario’s front-line health care workers by teaming up with a local manufacture. They are now in the process of delivering thousands of face shields to hospitals, health care facilities and long-term care residences across Ontario. Some local businesses who received the face shields include Mill Creek Care Centre and Rob Rumball Home For The Deaf.

The City of Barrie has launched Community Heroes, an online campaign to showcase appreciation for the many acts of kindness that members of the community have experience during this difficult time. #BarrieHeroes allows residents to share photos and stories about the many heroes who have emerged during this crisis including front line workers, those who have started community initiatives and those who have shared acts of kindness. Visit barrie.ca/heroes to submit a story or share a photo and use the #BarrieHeroes.

Orillia Secondary School graduate, Anna Di Bacco, and fellow classmate at McMaster University, Cece Ohayon, have created a clothing line This Brxnd Saves Lives to help front line workers! The business will be donating 50% of it’s profits to the Unity Health Network in Toronto and the other 50% will be reinvested back into the business.

Shout out of appreciation to Barbara Armstrong of Ice Halo in Barrie.  They have shut down manufacturing of protective headgear to sew face masks to donate to seniors homes across Ontario!

Hockey Helps The Homeless and Bardown have teamed up to create the “Stay The Puck Home”  clothing line to help support Canada’s homeless. Until Friday May 8th, 100% of net proceeds from the sale of hoodies and t-shirts will be granted to HHTH’s charity partners from coast-to-coast.

Innisfil ideaLAB & Library have been creating and distributing 3D PPE to retirement homes, long term care facilities and Life Labs and are assisting local makers in production and distribution. The programming teams have been working hard to create original online content such as social media, e-books and e-audio for residents and have been making care calls.

The YMCA of Simcoe Muskoka is opening the community’s first licensed emergency child care centre for essential workers at Georgian College in Barrie! Please contact the County of Simcoe to register.

The Barrie Community FDN launched GRATITUDE DELIVERED on Friday April 24th with Cravings Fine Food making the first delivery to Grove Park Home. One hundred prepared meals were distributed to staff. Barrie lawyer, Marshall Green, and owner and president of Cravings Fine Food, Jennifer Long-Allen,  have teamed up on this amazing initiative to show their gratitude and support of front line workers.  GRATITUDE DELIVERED will continue throughout the duration of the pandemic and will be making deliveries to the RVH and local seniors homes in the coming days.

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Barrie and District is encouraging the community to get out, get active, have fun while social distancing and have the opportunity to win one of two grand prizes by participating in their scavenger hunt! Entry is only $10 and gives you two days of fun challenges with the chance to win some great prizes and supports young at risk individuals in our community. Registration is open until Friday May 1st so visit their website and sign up today!

https://barrie.bigbrothersbigsisters.ca/event/alone-together-scavenger-challenge/

Barrie’s Live Music Show is bringing local musicians and audiences together like never before by raising money for local charities through the power of music. Join their Facebook page and check out incredible performances and even post one of your own!

Scotiabank Orillia has made a generous $20,000 donation to Soldiers Memorial Hospital’s general equipment fund. This donation is the final installment of $100,000 commitment made in 2015. The money will be used to purchase equipment for the hospital staff needed to provide their patients with top quality care.

New Path Youth & Family Services has switched from in-person to call-in mental health services for children, youth and families throughout Simcoe County. Those calling in have access to a range of free counselling and therapy services. Call 705-725-7656 for free services today.

Barrie Mayor, Jeff Lehman, announces that energy provider, Alectra, is donating $20,000 to the Barrie Food Bank!

At Instant Imprints Barrie, we are selling t-shirts with $5 from every shirt sold going to the Barrie Food Bank. The shirts are called Kept Apart United Together During these challenging times while we are all practicing social distancing it is important to stay united together and help those we can. The website to order them from is https://instant-imprints-barrie.myshopify.com/.

I am making face masks from home using ends/leftover fabrics for health care workers such as pharmacies, doctor’s offices or anyone else who needs them. I have also uploaded a Youtube video with instructions on how to draft and sew the masks. If you know anyone with a sewing machine please share the link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBgiavJjA6o so they can also make a few, many hands make work light! Thank you.

Kyle Silveria, salesman at Barrie Volkswagen, has gained the support of his employer to host a parade of vehicles to drive by the RVH on Monday April 6th to show their appreciation for hospital staff. Vehicles will meet in the North Barrie Crossing Shopping Centre parking lot at 6:30PM and will head to the hospital at 7:00PM. Motorists participating in the parade will be asked to follow rules including: no honking, staying in the left lane and obeying traffic lights and street signs.

The City of Orillia will be giving $10,000 of its COVID-19 community assistance funds to the Sharing Place Food Centre to assist individuals and families in need. This money will be used to by necessary items needed to fill its hampers. City staff will be assisting in delivering the hampers to residents.

*UPDATE*
After just two weeks 7673 meals have been cooked, packaged and delivered to local services!

The Barrie Colts will be prepping and delivering meals courtesy of The Horsepower Sports Bar & BBQ kitchen to local services such as The Barrie Food Bank, David Busby Centre, Salvation Army and the Women and Children’s Shelter. The money raised from the Colts 50/50 ticket sales will be used to purchase food needed for these meals. Barrie Colts President, Howie Campbell, thanks sponsors No Frill’s and Zehrs Supermarkets for their generous food donations and Rockbrune Movers and AMJ Campbell for donating boxes to package and deliver the meals.

Orillia toy store Jack and Maddy is helping make quarantine birthdays as special as can be. Contact them if you have a birthday kiddo and they will make sure the perfect birthday surprise is delivered to your doorstep! Just let them know a bit of info about the child and your price range. A customized package is put together and a picture is sent back for approval. The gift is then delivered at a designated time, to make your child’s special day extra special, even if they can’t be with their friends!

We are seeing a lot of used gloves being thrown on the ground as people try and avoid contaminating their cars. Men In Kilts are out there keeping our community clean by picking up used gloves and debris in parking lots around the city. Send a message to dkerwin@meninkilts.com or 705-305-5034 if you know of an area that needs some TLC.

Redline Brewhouse in Barrie Ontario will not only be functioning as a brewery, but will be manufacturing hand sanitizer during the COVID-19 pandemic! With help from the World Health Organization and Fast Track Packaging, they will be producing sanitizer for local medical supply companies and hospitals. But don’t worry, they’re still making delicious beer for us to enjoy!

Tom Aikins, regional manager for Barrie’s Delta Bingo and Gaming, dropped off 4,000 nitro gloves, hand-sanitizer products, dispensers and refills to Barrie police.

William Street is showing their support for health-care workers at Royal Victoria Health Centre (RVH). Every evening at 7:30pm, neighbours make noise, bang pots and pans, and just make a big racket to say THANK YOU to those putting themselves potentially at risk to keep others safe! For more on the story, click HERE!

Bradford resident Shanna Brander has sewn over 100 masks for front-line workers! Check out the full story HERE!

Back 2 Basics Tattoo & Barber in Angus donated much needed Personal Protective Equipment to protect Stevenson Memorial Hospital’s front-line staff while they care for our community.

Scholarly Elite Tutoring of Barrie is offering free on-line math tutoring with a qualified mathematics tutor:

To help teens and families during the COVID-19 quarantine Scholarly Elite Tutoring will be live-streaming interactive high school math lessons and Q&A sessions at www.FreeMathHelp.ca every Thursday from 1-6 p.m.

The Barrie Police wish to thank Troy Scott of Foodland Stroud for donating 2 cases of hand sanitizer to keep our officers safe during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your kindness is overwhelmingly appreciated.