Report to the Ontario District
April 21st, 2024
The Harmonize for Speech (H4S) Board of Trustees (BOT) are delighted to
announce that we have now filled the vacant Trustee position on the board, created
by the resignation of David Smith. Bill Hawken, who is a long-time member of
Ontario District and currently serves on the District Management team as V.P. Music
and Performance will now serve as a member of the H4S BOT. Bill is an active
member of the Capital City Chorus and has also served on the Chapter Board
including a couple of years as President. Bill is also a BHS contest judge. His quartet
has, for many years, supported H4S by performIng for the University of Ottawa
Speech/ Language Pathology and Audiology Program at their convocation. Bill will
be an excellent addition to the H4S BOT and will provide a welcomed BOT presence
in Eastern Ontario.
The BOT appreciates the effort made by the District to return to pre-pandemic levels
of financial support. We look forward to another successful Kitchener Waterloo
Dawg Haus Night and the East York Barbershoppers’ Annual Christmas Letter
campaign this year. Both of these events provide thousands of dollars each year to
support H4S in our efforts to help individuals with Communication Disorders and
their families. If any chapter would like ideas for similar fundraising events, please
have your Chapter H4S Representative contact the H4S trustee assigned to your
chapter.
This year we have provided funds to Laurentian University to expand their summer
program for children with Speech and Language challenges. Our support this past
summer provided for a very successful summer program. We have also provided
funds to Western for students to attend a Speech and Language summer camp they
will be newly implementing this year. We are especially thankful to be able to
continue to support the Canadian Stuttering Association in subsidizing those who
cannot afford to attend some programs they offer. Our support of the Ontario
Association for Families of Children with Communication Disorders (OAFCCD) will
also continue this year. This organization provides very important help to parents of
the children we strive to help. In addition, H4S continues to support the training of
Speech Language Pathologists (SLPs) at four major Ontario Universities as well as
the training of Communication Disorder Assistants (CDAs) at Durham and Georgian
Colleges. We also provide financial assistance to families whose children receive
therapy at the clinics operated by these programs.
Please look for our matching-donor opportunity for H4S and APOC at the 2024 PEP
Rally on June 11th.
Yours in harmony,
George Shields and Jim Finlay, Co-chairs Harmonize for Speech
