Editor:

This letter is written on behalf of several of the older members of the Lakes District Family Enhancement Society to fellow pensioners.

The impacts of COVID-19 on individual people and families runs the spectrum from a minor inconvenience to complete devastation.

Like most members of the Lakes District communities, we have been very careful to follow the Provincial guidelines and have been healthy so far. We are also very fortunate that we have a stable retirement income and the pandemic has not had much of an impact on us financially.

As a seniors, we qualify to receive Old Age Security and will be receiving the one time only $300 cheque from the Federal government to offset the extra costs associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Very recently there has been a 70 per cent increase in usage at the food centre so we are choosing to donate this money to the Link where it can be used to support people that are really in need. We realize that not all seniors will be able to do this and the extra $300 will make a real financial difference too many seniors in the community, but to those seniors that are able to, why not join the growing local and national trend to donate these cheques to organizations that are serving the most vulnerable in our communities.

With thanks for any consideration of this appeal,

Rick Pooley, Bernice Magee, Cathy Ashurst