On Saturday, November 22nd Rob Siddel, Chapter President and Ron Brown, Treasurer of the Scarborough Dukes of Harmony of the Ontario District of the Barbershop Harmony Society International (both on the left side of the photo) presented George Shields and Jim Finlay, Co-chairs of Harmonize for Speech (H4S) with a cheque for $3300.00 to support […]

Co-chairs of Harmonize for Speech (H4S), George Shields and Jim Finlay along with Earle Goodwin and Greg Shields, members of East York Barbershoppers Chapter of the Ontario District of the Barbershop Harmony Society International (BHS) attended the University of Toronto Speech/Language Pathology Alumni Association Convocation Reception on October 28th. They provided information about the activities […]

The Harmonize for Speech Bursary is awarded to a full-time student enrolled in the second year of the Master of Health Sciences in Speech-Language Pathology at the Faculty of Health Sciences of the University of Ottawa that demonstrates financial need, as determined by the Financial Aid and Awards Service of the University of Ottawa. Shown […]

Students in Durham College’s (DC) Communicative Disorders Assistant (CDA) graduate certificate program will benefit from a $50,000 donation made by Harmonize for Speech, the charitable arm of the Ontario District of the Barbershop Harmony Society International. To recognize this generous gift, the program’s lab has been renamed in their honour to the Harmonize for Speech Communicative Disorders Lab.
On November 9, members of Harmonize for Speech visited the college’s Oshawa campus to celebrate the naming of the lab and hear from faculty and students in the CDA program about the impact their gift has made to students’ education and to the clients of the program’s Kids Speech Clinic.
“The support for Harmonize for Speech will enhance our ability to provide essential services to young clients in need,” said Gillian Dunn, Associate Dean, Faculty of Health Sciences. “The Kids Speech Clinic has been an important part of the CDA program since 2018, helping to meet the needs of children in our community with speech while providing our students with invaluable experiential learning opportunities.”
Founded in 1977, Harmonize for Speech provides funds and support for Ontario children and adults to improve their ability to communicate. In addition to directly supporting the Kids Speech Clinic, funds provided by Harmonize for Speech will contribute to the purchase of assistive technologies and tools that will enhance therapeutic students to create communication aids such as visual schedules, communication and choice boards. Funds will also contribute to procuring an Anatomage 3D digital anatomy visualization and virtual dissection system.
“Our number one goal as a charity is to see that individuals with communicative disorders receive the help they need,” explained Jim Finlay, Co-chair of the Harmonize for Speech Fund. “We believe that if we see to it that more people are well trained to work with them, the better chance they have of receiving the services they require.”
The Ontario District of the Barbershop Harmony Society has 23 chapters across the province made up of men and women who sing four-part harmony in the barbershop style in choruses and quartets. The Fund is administered by a seven-member Board of Trustees from across the province.
During their visit, members of Harmonize for Speech and the Last Call quartet treated attendees to a performance, which included their theme songs We Sing That They Shall Speak and Keep the Whole World Singing – and even engaged students in a brief singing tutorial.

Dean van Lieshout, Professor Martino, Lynn Ellwood, to all of the Teaching staff, student support personnel, but most importantly the new and returning SLP students. I bring you greetings from the Board of Trustees of the Harmonize for Speech Fund which is involved in the SLP Masters program in several ways. We are proud to […]