On March 3 Puslinch councillors approved the use of the township’s outdoor marqueé sign for “Be A Donor Month” and waived the associated fees for the use.
Janet Parr wrote to council on behalf of the Life Donation Awareness Association (LDAA) requesting its message be displayed on the marquee sign outside the community centre in Aberfoyle to encourage people to consider organ and tissue during April, which is Be A Donor Month in Ontario.
Parr noted the LDAA of midwest Ontario is a volunteer, not-for-profit organization that aims to build awareness within local communities about the need for and how to register consent to become an organ and tissue donor.
Group members include people waiting for organs and tissue, donor family members, general public and recipients.
“Thanks to the courage and compassion of a family I will never know, I received a life-saving heart transplant just over three years ago,” Parr told council. She said the group is also arranging signs along Highway 6 in Guelph and Fergus, and also in Elora.
The four lines to be displayed on the Puslinch sign are: Organ Donors
Save Lives
Register to donate
www.beadonor.ca.
Council approved the use of the township’s outdoor marquee sign and agreed to waive the fees associated with the rental, in the amount of $285 including HST.
The group’s four-line message will be rotated among other community messages for a period of four weeks.
Mayor Dennis Lever noted these types of requests are made from time to time.
“Should we considering setting some portion of the (sign) time aside for community announcements on a regular basis?” Lever asked.
“We get enough of these requests that it might be worth thinking about.”
Councillor Susan Fielding agreed with the idea.
“It’s part of the spirit as to why we have the sign,” she said. “It’s not really there to be a money-making thing.”
Lever asked the CAO if staff could see what other communities do and come back with a recommendation for council to consider.
