PHOTO CUTLINE: A $10,000 cheque was recently presented to Cobden District Public School, to be shared with the school board. On hand for the presentation are, back row from left, Rev. Linda Wheeler, Gwen Gibson, Alice Ferguson, Mary Cahill and Les Hill. Students in front, from from left Hailey Brenner, Gavin Legree, Jacob Scheuneman, Ambrose Wattie, Canyon Sauk and Noah Bennett. Photo submitted
COBDEN — St. Paul’s Anglican Church in Cobden recently donated $10,000 to be shared between Cobden District Public School and the Student Support Fund at the Renfrew County District School Board.
“This significant donation is unprecedented in our recent history,” said Board Chair Wendy Hewitt. “With this support, the parishioners of St. Paul’s Anglican Church in Cobden have ensured that students at Cobden PS, and others in our district, will continue to experience the best education for generations to come.”
Cobden public school received $5,000 toward an outdoor play space in the schoolyard. The Board will consider how best to apply the funding for the fall school year. Sun shades, buddy benches and a “music fence” in the kindergarten yard are options being considered.
The other $5,000 is being directed to the Student Support Fund. This charitable arm of the Board helps students across the system access small grants so that they may participate in extracurricular activities, pay for post-secondary college and university applications and co-operative education expenses. It also makes funding available in times of personal crises, such as fires, floods or layoffs.
The church is able to make the donations due to the generous financial legacies of two families in the Cobden area. Ed and Eleanor Dallin and Greta and Basil Yates. The Dallin family is among the pioneer families of the Cobden area and the Yates family owned and operated the bakery in downtown Cobden for many years.
“Greta worried about her husband’s health and would walk over to St. Paul’s to pray,” said Alice Ferguson, a church parishioner who sits on the committee responsible for handing out the donations. “She pledged that if Basil’s health improved she would do something to support the church. In turn, the church felt it was fitting that we share these gifts with those organizations who have been so instrumental in supporting the needs of citizens in Cobden and across the region.”
The church has made similar donations to organizations across the community and region including to the Cobden Food Bank, Hospice Renfrew and Marianhill Palliative Care.
“It ultimately underscores the generosity that runs throughout our
