LUCAN – The Block Parent program may be on its way back to Lucan Biddulph.
That was Ward 3 representative Alex Westman's message to council April 19 during a report about the content of a recent community policing committee meeting.
Westman represents council on the committee, which he said has has been in touch with an organization about reviving the Block Parent program in Lucan Biddulph.
Founded in London in 1968, the program asks adult volunteers to offer their homes as safe havens for children caught in dangerous or frightening situations.
Examples listed at the Block Parent Program of Canada (BPPC) website are situations where children are:
• being bullied;
• lost, hurt or ill;
• caught in severe weather; or
• frightened by a stranger.
Volunteers undergo police background checks and are asked to display a sign indicating theirs is a Block Parent home when a person over the age of 18 is available to answer the door.
Westman told council there is a cost involved in reviving the program, and a request for financial help may come to council at some point, though he said the committee has money in its account to cover some of the cost.
Westman described the program as "wonderful for kids," and said police also see it as a deterrent for certain crimes.
He said the committee is considering first implementing the program in areas that are close to parks and the new Wilberforce Public School in Lucan.
He added that all residents of a home aged 12 or older are required to have police  background checks to take part in the program.
Organ donation
Lucan Biddulph Mayor Tom McLaughlin stopped short of declaring April 18-25 "Organ and Tissue Donor Awareness Week," as he and other heads of council were asked to by an organization called the Trillium Gift of Life Network (TGLN).
But information about organ and tissue donation will likely appear on the municipal website and perhaps the municipal newsletter.
TGLN, a Toronto-based organization, sent a resolution to Lucan Biddulph seeking the declaration of a week dedicated to raise awareness of the need for organ and tissue donation, saying 1,600 people in Ontario are on waiting lists for lifesaving organ and tissue transplants.
According to literature from the group, only 17 per cent of Ontarians with health cards are registered as donors.
McLaughlin said he thought the cause important, but wanted to stop short of declaring a week devoted to it.
Municipal chief administrative officer (CAO) Ron Reymer said Lucan Biddulph typically denies any such request.
McLaughlin requested that information on the matter be placed on the municipal website or in the newsletter, saying even if two people responded to that information, it would be a success story.
Economic development
By the end of the year, Lucan Biddulph's economic development committee hopes to use about 340 radio advertising spots left from a grant it received from the Community Futures Development Corporation (CFDC).
Municipal clerk Lisa deBoer told council April 19 the committee has all year to use up the spots, and is exploring the possibility of running a general ad with about 20 seconds devoted to information about Lucan.
Businesses would be given the opportunity to buy some of the ads and use the remaining 10 seconds for information devoted specific to their operations.