Patricia Rossiter & Caitlin Leach
“CHAS has been a fabulous experience for me! Imagine walking into a group and making 75 new friends, while having fun working together to help people. Who wouldn’t want to join?”
“When she told me that CHAS was creating a “Daughters of CHAS” group, I was excited to jump in. ”
Patricia Rossiter - I had attended a few CHAS Holiday Lunches before I joined CHAS, so I had a good idea of CHAS’ goals and commitments to children’s health. I particularly remember the CHAS Centennial Tea as a wonderful experience with the ladies celebrating CHAS’ heritage in beautiful hats.
In 2009, I joined CHAS (it has been a dozen years!). My sponsors, Toshimi Sembo and Marsha Morsky, have been excellent supports. They were, and still are, always available to guide me and explain things.
CHAS has been a fabulous experience for me! Imagine walking into a group and making 75 new friends, while having fun working together to help people. Who wouldn’t want to join?
I believe that we all grow as people when we work together for our community. For instance, we recently redesigned our logo and tried to convey what CHAS stands for as an organization:
The entire shape is a continuous knot that alludes to strength and interconnectivity
The heart shapes represent love, caring and unity
While the 4 sections join in the middle to show bringing people together.
I firmly believe that these attributes are what represents the best in us!
Being a member means that there are lots of proud moments. Frankly, any time I see projects we have supported being used for the recipients’ benefit. I am very proud of all the hard work we have done. Sometimes, this means meals we have prepared, kids’ hampers we have helped assemble, or raising funds for items at the Children’s Hospital.
Each and every time, I am very proud of CHAS and everyone in it for all of our hard work.
Caitlin Leach - I have always been able to tell how passionate my Mom is about working with CHAS. Ever since I can recall, she has been the type to want to help people – whoever they are – and CHAS allows her organization and leadership skills to shine alongside her compassion. When she told me that CHAS was creating a “Daughters of CHAS” group, I was excited to jump in. Like her, I have always wanted to help others, though never had an outlet for the work I wanted to do.
One could say, then, that I was one of the founding members of what would become CHAS Next, and I am so proud to be part of this group. I think that my favourite fundraisers so far have been the paint and pint nights. My parents have our family cows (of wildly varying quality) hanging in their house. So, if you ever visit, you can’t miss them!
CHAS provides so many worthwhile services for the community through a variety of fundraisers. While the focus is children, their work stretches so much further and reaches all kinds of people in need. I hope that they continue on for another hundred years, at least!