Halifax Community News

HALIFAX, NS, Oct. 2, 2021 /CNW/ - Today a community of over 1,300 riders, numerous sponsors, and generous supporters raised more than $1.6 million net for cancer care at the QEII Health Sciences Centre – and that number is still growing. Ride for Cancer powered by BMO Bank of Montreal is Atlantic Canada's largest fundraising cycling event and is hosted by the QEII Foundation.

A Halifax food bank says it needs to raise enough money for a new delivery truck by December, or hundreds of people might go without the food they need. Parker Street Food and Furniture Bank on Maynard Street is asking the community to pitch in $160,000 for a new refrigerated delivery truck.

Karen MacRoberts has been making an incredible contribution to the community — one stitch at a time. As head of the Lawrencetown Sew-ciety Quilt Guild’s Cuddles and Comfort program, the long-time seamstress has helped to craft hundreds of quilts to give out to non-profit charities, organizations or pretty much anyone who could use a little warmth in their life.

With Nova Scotia in the midst of the fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, volunteers are needed to help assemble 300,000 take-home COVID-19 testing kits over the coming weeks to deal with an expected increase in testing needs. "Go big or go home," said Dr. Lisa Barrett, a clinician scientist and infectious disease doctor at Dalhousie University.

A 24-hour volunteer “vigil” at a Halifax encampment for unhoused people is ending, after the group says it received assurances from the city that there will be no more evictions.

HRM says it has found “alternative, safe, temporary accommodations” for seven unhoused people living in Meagher Park — also known as People’s Park — but the volunteers who work with them say they’ve been left out of the decision. The city did not say where they were placed, but Global News has learned they’re staying at the Gerald B. Gray Memorial Arena in Dartmouth. Security officers did not allow Global to enter the arena and speak with the people living there.