Denise Vernier October 28 memorial benefit dinner update

Naomi Ives Peak, the secretary and former agency co-chair of the ODSP Action Coalition of Toronto will be keynote speaker at the Denise Vernier Memorial dinner, 5:30 p.m., October 28, at the Army Navy Air Force Club, 14 Marlborough Street. For more information on the Action Coalition and ODSP, contact Helen Paquin or committee member, Elaine MacDonald, 613-938-7763.

PHOTO CREDIT - S, D & G Coalition for Social Justice

Cornwall - Oct. 25, 2011 - Naomi Ives Peak, the secretary and former agency co-chair of the ODSP Action Coalition of Toronto will be keynote speaker at the Denise Vernier Memorial dinner, 5:30 p.m., October 28, at the Army Navy Air Force Club, 14 Marlborough Street.

The ODSP Action Coalition was formed in 2002 as a coalition of lawyers, community workers and consumers to lead the campaign to document and publicize problems with ODSP and has engaged in lobbying and advocacy to encourage solutions to those problems. Denise Vernier founded a local chapter of the Action Coalition and participated in its anti-poverty work. It was in that capacity that she attended the pre-budget lockup in Toronto with other members of the Action Coalition in 2008 and it was for her anti-poverty advocacy that the Cornwall & District Labour Council awarded Denise the Community Activist Award in 2009.

The dinner is a fundraiser for a permanent memorial to Denise in Lamoureux Park. The memorial will be a tree and plaque. The dinner is sponsored by the SD&G Coalition for Social Justice. The chairperson of the Coalition is Helen Paquin, 613-938-6935.

For more information on the Action Coalition and ODSP, contact Helen Paquin or committee member, Elaine MacDonald, 613-938-7763.