by Sylene Argent, Local Journalism Initiative
Recognizing many area families are going through difficult times right now in dealing with cleaning up after flooding occurred towards the end of August, members of the Rotary Club of Harrow hosted a free breakfast and hot dog barbeque for the Harrow community throughout the day on Saturday.
The event took place from their Rotary Hut in downtown Harrow.
The flooding resulted from the most recent severe weather event on August 23 – followed by the August 24 event, where the Northern Tornadoes Project confirmed different tornadoes touched down in Tecumseh, Cottam, and Windsor.
The barbeque on Saturday was free for community members to take advantage of. Members of the Rotary Club of Harrow noted they wanted to give back to the community and raise spirits, as they are still seeing families haul ruined items from their basements
to the curb after those recent storms caused flooding.
This local service club hosted a similar barbeque the day after the late June downburst occurred to feed families as they dealt with flooded basements and yards, downed trees, and damage. At the time, many homes were still out of hydro. They gave away 425 hot dogs that day, and hoped to provide the community with the same level of service on
Saturday.
They were appreciative to Essex Councillor Rodney Hammond, who provided funding from his Council Contingency Fund to support the purchasing of the items that were provided to community members free of charge.
The Rotary Club of Harrow has done a lot to alleviate some of the hardships people have
gone through this summer, Hammond said. Many of those efforts were undertaken on their own dime.
“I felt it was important the Town looked after them in their endeavour to support the community. The Rotary Club of Harrow does an outstanding job to promote the Town. It is a
great community service club, as most services are. I thought they could use a little extra help, especially since they were providing food and beverages to the community for free,”
Hammond said.
Members of the Rotary Club of Harrow noted they realize many area families are struggling financially right now, in addition to the recent storm events, and they were happy to find a way to support those community members.