United Way campaigns for 211 awareness collect i v i té • commun i ty
GREGG CHAMBERLAIN gregg.chamberlain@eap.on.ca
911,» said Densmore. She also noted that fewer non-urgent emergency calls to 911means savings, both in time and energy, for emergency services and also potential savings for local govern- ments on their emergency services budgets. Themoney saved, Densmore indicated, can then go towards local social service pro- grams and projects that might help to deal with non-urgent emergency issues. Staffs who receive calls from residents asking about what services are available for particular social or family situations can direct the caller to 211 for help in finding the appropriate agency. Municipalities can also encourage local social service, family aid, and other groups to register with the 211 service so their names, phone numbers and addresses are in the referral system’s databank.
When most people think of emergency calls, they think 911. But there is another number available that people can use to get help or information when they have an emergency that is not a life-or-death situation. Centraide United Way Prescott-Russell (CUWPR) is campaigning for better public awareness of the 211 call system. CUWPR representatives are going around to muni- cipal councils in the Prescott-Russell region to enlist their help in both promoting the 211 system and also making sure it is available to their citizens. «It is a single point of access to all social services,» said Jodie Densmore, CUWPR exe- cutive director, «for any non-urgent service.» Densmore and TimHalderson, CUWPR 211 Ontario liaison for Prescott-Russell, are doing presentations on the service at local councils.The concept behind 211 is similar to that for the 911 emergency call system.The 911 service lets people report a fire, crime, accident, or other type of emergency and the message gets passed on right away to the correct agency to handle. A 911 operator can also make sure the correct details of the situation, including location, injuries if any, and other necessary information is also forwarded to emergency personnel. A Russell Winter Carnival warms up GREGG CHAMBERLAIN gregg.chamberlain@eap.on.ca If Wireton Willie and other groundhogs around Southern Ontario know what’s good for them, they won’t make any win- ter predictions that will mess things up in Eastern Ontario. More exact, the weather during the first half of February better be fine and frosty for Winter Carnival fun in the Village of Russell. TammyMcKinley is the driving force be- hind this year’s Russell Winter Carnival, an annual project of the Russell KinClub. From the start of the Scavenger Hunt on Feb. 10 to a pair of Valentine’s Day weekend soirées, courtesy of the Russell Optimist Club and the Russell Royal Canadian Legion branch, this year’s Russell Winter Carnival schedule is packed with a wide variety of events and activities, both indoors and outdoors, to provide community fun in spite of any and all weather possibilities. The KinClub is aided in this year’s Car- nival efforts bymore than three dozen local organizations, churches, community and youth groups, and individuals. Joining in as sponsors for specific events listed in the brochure are several local businesses. Some of the highlight events include the Second Annual Chili Cook-Off, Russell’s Got Talent, the Scavenger Hunt, the Amaz- ing Race Russell, the Lions Gold Rush and, weather permitting, an ice fishing derby along the Castor River. Copies of the winter carnival brochure are available at local businesses and the schedule, with details on various events, is also at www.kinclubofrussell.ca.
911 operator can also help to calm a caller in distress and, if necessary, remain on the line to keep the caller feeling connected and assured that help is on the way. A 911 system avoids the need for cal- lers to have to either look up or memorize the different numbers for police, fire, and ambulance in their area and whether or not they need to remember to dial long-distance for the call. But one problem for 911 is that
often calls come in for situations that are an emergency for the caller but are not urgent in the life-threatening sense. A caller may need urgent advice for dea- ling with a family or social problembut has no idea what service is available in the area. The 211 system set up in Ontario is designed to deal with those kinds of urgent but not- life-or-death needs. «It gives people an alternative to calling
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