Lt.-Gov. Janet Austin will ring a kettle bell as the Salvation Army launches its annual Christmas Kettle Campaign on Tuesday at the Victoria Conference Centre.
The kettle campaign hopes to raise $250,000 in Victoria to feed, clothe and shelter individuals and families on Vancouver Island who need support. Across the province, the kettle campaign hopes to raise $4 million.
The ceremony takes place at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday at the Victoria Conference Centre, 720 Douglas St. For more information, go to .
Chicago bluesman coming for fundraiser
Blues sensation Johnny Burgin will be in Victoria for a fundraising concert for MOVE Adapted Fitness and Rehabilitation Society, Friday at the Odd Fellows Hall.
Burgin will be joined by local guitar hero Jordie Edmonds and bassist Chris Matheos as he brings his Chicago sound to town.
He loves to tour, performing up to 250 shows a year in Europe, Japan, the U.S. and sa国际传媒.
鈥淚t鈥檚 my first visit to Victoria. I鈥檓 looking forward to it,鈥� Burgin said. 鈥淢y thing has always been live music. Going to shows, booking shows, playing shows. Playing with the best musicians 鈥� like Jordie 鈥� that I can. More than anything, I love the feeling of getting in the van and going. Even better, once I get there, I love the feeling of knockin鈥� 鈥檈m dead.鈥�
MOVE Adapted Fitness and Rehabilitation Society is a registered non-profit fitness centre for people with impaired mobility.
Tickets are $20 in advance or $25 at the door. Cash-only bar. Doors open at 7, with the show starting at 8 p.m. at the Odd Fellows Hall, 1315 Douglas St.
Tickets are available at .
For more information, go to or
Great pizza for聽a聽good聽cause
Pizzeria Prima Strada has declared Nov. 26 as Rotary Victoria Harbourside Day.
The restaurant will donate a percentage of all its sales on that day toward supporting school breakfast programs in Victoria.
You can order a pizza pie at both Prima Strada Victoria locations 鈥� 230 Cook St. and 1990聽Fort St.
For more information, go to .
鈥� Now is also the time to order Rotary Victoria Harbourside fruit cakes before they sell out.
The cakes are made by Harbourside Rotarians, friends and family in partnership with Camosun College, using a recipe handed down through the generations.
The cake is all fruit, with extra candied orange, lemon and citron peel. The cakes are dipped in brandy, wrapped in cheesecloth, parchment paper and foil.
The cakes weight 750 grams and cost $30. Pick up for free or have it delivered within Greater Victoria for an extra $10. The fruit cakes can be picked up between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. Wednesday to Friday, and 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 18 to Dec.聽14, at Serenity Home Care, Unit 2, 435 Simcoe St. (near Thrifty Foods in James Bay).
For more information, go to .
Rotary raises more than $12K for polio campaign
The Rotary Clubs of Greater Victoria are thankful for the community鈥檚 support for their polio-related fundraising events during October.
Pizza for Polio raised $7,850. It was supported by Domino鈥檚 Pizza (Foul Bay Road, Bay Street, Shelbourne Street and Millstream Road), Sooke 2 For 1 Pizza, and 328 Taphouse + Grill.
A showing of the movie Breathe at the Eric Martin Pavilion raised more than $2,100, while a White Elephant Auction in Sooke raised $2,500.
In total, the Rotary clubs raised almost $12,500 which will be matched 2:1 by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which will give them enough to purchase 38,400 children鈥檚 polio drops.
SPCA adoption event finds 200 new friends
More than 200 animals found their forever homes during the sa国际传媒 SPCA鈥檚 second annual provincewide adoption event, Fall聽Head Over Tails in Love.
The event was presented in partnership with Hill鈥檚 Pet Nutrition.
Most of the animals in SPCA care, including dogs, cats, kittens, puppies, rats and guinea pigs, were eligible for 50 per cent off the adoption fee and sa国际传媒 Pet Registry fee during the event.
Kittens were the most popular pet across all branches with 91 adoptions, followed by 76 cats and 24 dogs.
鈥淐ongratulations to everyone who came out to provide a loving home for an animal in our care,鈥� said Mark Takhar, chief operations officer. 鈥淭hank you to all of our branch staff, who were there to answer questions about the animals, walk through our adoption-matching process and accommodate the increased volume of people passing through the doors at our 36 branches across the province.鈥�
For more information, go to .
Library on the hunt for聽local authors
The Greater Victoria Public Library is looking for submissions by local authors for its Emerging Local Authors Collection.
The special collection is an annual showcase of works by authors and illustrators from south Vancouver Island for readers of all ages. Selected works are prominently displayed for one year in the library鈥檚 Central Branch. Since 2015, the collection has included 670 titles by 561 authors, with the youngest being six years old.
Submissions considered include print and ebooks in any genre-fiction, poetry and non-fiction, with a focus on self-published, independent and small-press works.
鈥淚n this age of buying local, the Emerging Local Authors Collection encourages people to read local,鈥� said Lara Riecken, senior librarian in GVPL鈥檚 collections and technical services department. 鈥淭he library helps authors reach readers who wish to support the creativity and talents of emerging writers and artists in our community. We encourage eligible authors to submit their works and join this special collection at the library.鈥�
Criteria for submission include:
鈥� Book was published between 2010 and 2019;
鈥� Author/illustrator resides on southern Vancouver Island or resided there during the year of publication; and
鈥� Print book is professionally bound.
Full criteria and an application form is available at gvpl.ca/emerging. The deadline for applications is Jan. 12, 2020.
The current collection can be found in the Central Branch of the Greater Victoria Public Library, 735 Broughton St. Author profiles are featured on the library website and the books are available through the library鈥檚 online catalogue.
For more information, go to .
Save-on-Foods raising funds for pediatric ICU
Save-on-Foods stores in Greater Victoria have just launched a three-week campaign with a goal of raising $25,000 towards the purchase of a patient monitor for the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at Victoria General Hospital.
Between now and Dec. 4, customers at eight stores can take part in the fundraising campaign. Many small donations made at the till (with a purchase) can quickly add up to make a major impact in our community.
The patient monitor provides pediatric caregivers with critically important information so that they can take immediate and informed action.
鈥淲ith 250 children in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit every year, the need to support our tiniest patients is critical. Our community knows this. Over the last five years, our donors have impactfully and generously funded 80 per cent of equipment in the PICU,鈥� said Avery Brohman, acting executive director of the Victoria Hospitals Foundation.
鈥淭o now have our local Save-on-Foods stores and their generous customers join this important cause means our caregivers can have access to leading-edge equipment, and our littlest patients can continue to receive the very best care, right here at home. We are deeply thankful.鈥�
Participating stores include Blanshard Street, Fort Street, Pandora Avenue, Sidney, Tillicum, University Heights, Vic West and Westshore.
More than 2,000 pediatric patients are cared for every year at Victoria General Hospital, with one in eight children requiring care in the PICU.
For more information, go to .
