Don't forget to swing hard,
in case you hit the ball. 
~Woodie Held

BOSL NEWS – Giving Back to the Community

September 22, 2019
BOSL Gives Back

In keeping with our League's commitment to "Giving Back to the Community", we once again chose the Burlington Food Bank as our designated charity for 2019.  This organization has a long tradition of supporting the Burlington community by supplying food for families in need. As always, our fundraising success depends on the support and participation from YOU, and we are always looking for volunteers to help us plan our fundraising events.

August 1, 2019
BOSL Summer

Charity 2019 - Burlington Food Bank

Despite the new City rules about Licensing of raffles and draws - you guys have really stepped up

This year's Mid Season tournament raised $705 cash, as well as close to 300 pounds of food with a value of close to $750. Then Ryan Carson matched that amount with a donation of $1,455. During golf day we donated $2,800 for a grand total of $5,710. We will also add any extra amounts from Golf Day to the mini tournament donation in mid august.

Thanks for making it a great season so far!

June 16, 2019
BOSL donation to Burlington Food Bank at AGM

hey guys – once again – THANK YOU for helping me out personally this weekend and Thanks for doing such a great job. Despite not being able to run any raffles or 50/50s the players managed to raise $705 in cash for the Food Bank and a truck load of food! Way to come through!!

from John Love…..

No trouble at all with loading the truck. Lots of helpers that I have known for a long time.

I was at Sherwood from around 8:00 A. M. till 2:30 P.M . or so (photo of van, etc. attached).

Very successful - lots of food and $705 in cash donations from the players, their wives, families and friends.

Respectfully

John Love

October 25, 2018
BOSL donation to Burlington Food Bank at AGM

Thank you again BOSL players!

The Burlington Oldtimers Slo-Pitch League (www.bosl.ca) selected the Burlington Food Bank as their charity for 2018. BOSL reduced membership to 16 teams in 2018 (240 players) and between them, the players were able to raise a grand total of $8,989 and 670 lbs of non-perishable food for 2018. The support was generated through a combination of BOSL events throughout the Summer and thanks to donations from several generous players. Summer is the slowest donation period for the Food Bank so cash donations are a welcome surprize.

Joining us at Emma’s Back Porch for the Annual General Meeting was Robin Bailey from the Burlington Food Bank. Shown here in the cheque presentation photo are John Andersen, Ron Evinou, Steve Rowsell, Carl Camilleri, Peter Winstanley, Glen Baxby, Robin Bailey, and Scott Sinclair.

The Burlington Food Bank receives no government funding and partnerships with BOSL (a not-for-profit organization) are vital so that together we can help feed the needy in our city. For more information about The Burlington Food Bank, visit www.burlingtonfoodbank.ca

RON EVINOU – President BOSL

July 30, 2018
BOSL donation to Burlington Food Bank at Golf Day

Thank you BOSL players!!!!

For the Burlington Food Bank we raised $1,800 (through our BOSL hole sponsors) + $1,850 from our mid-season tournament for a total of $3,650. And Ryan Carson donated $1,000 so that made our grand total Food Bank Donation (on your behalf) $4,650! Thank you Ryan and thanks to all of you for your participation in our event and for the generous prize donations to the table.

Thanks also to Bobby Grenier for raising $180 for the putting challenge!

David Ament, Ryan Carson, Scott Sinclair, Carl Camilleri, Robin Bailey (Executive Director, Burlington Food Bank), Scot Cameron, Larry Beatty

October 27, 2017
BOSL donation to Burlington Food Bank for 2017 Season

Thank you again BOSL players!

The Burlington Oldtimers Slo-Pitch League (www.bosl.ca) selected the Burlington Food Bank for the second straight year as their charity. BOSL increased to 18 teams this season (250 players) and between them, the players were able to raise a grand total of $13,378.19 and 1,000 lbs of non-perishable food for 2017. The support was generated through a combination of BOSL events throughout the Summer and thanks to donations from several generous players. Summer is the slowest donation period for the Food Bank so cash donations are a welcome surprize.

Joining us at the Clubhouse for the Annual General Meeting were Robin Bailey and John Love from the Burlington Food Bank. Shown here in the cheque presentation photo are Jim Hindley, Steve Rowsell, Nick Popovacki, Robin Bailey, Randy Petrie, Carl Camilleri and John Love.

Food insecurity continues to be a problem for many people in our city. The Burlington Food Bank exists to assist those who have to make hard choices between buying food and other necessities over paying the bills. The Food Bank serves a large range of people of all ages in Burlington and whose incomes do not cover all their expenses. In 2017 to date, visits to the food bank have increased by 15% over 2016.

The Burlington Food Bank receives no government funding and partnerships with BOSL (a not-for-profit organization) are vital so that together we can help feed the needy in our city. For more information about The Burlington Food Bank, visit www.burlingtonfoodbank.ca

JIM HINDLEY – President BOSL

Sept 9, 2017
BOSL donation to Burlington Food Bank at Year End Tournament

Thank you again BOSL players! Our cheque presentation to the Food Bank here includes $2,595 (proceeds from our Beat the Board tournament, a $200 donation from Paul Ritchie, and includes the remainder of the contribution from our Golf Day event)

August 18, 2017
BOSL donation to Burlington Food Bank

Thank you very much for the donation of $1922.00 as well as 300 lbs. of food collected at your golf event and given to Burlington Food Bank. As we are currently in the slowest donation period of the year, June through September, cash donations such as yours are vital in order to enable us to purchase perishable foods and to keep our shelves filled with essential foodstuffs, as well as non­perishable foods.

Food insecurity continues to be a problem for many people in our city. The Burlington Food Bank exists to assist those who have to make hard choices between buying food and other necessities over paying the bills. The food bank serves a large range of people of all ages who make up the "working poor" in Burlington and whose incomes do not cover all their expenses. In 2017 to date, visits to our food bank have increased by 15% over 2016.

The Burlington Food Bank receives no government funding and apart from a full-time administrator and part-time clerk, is fully staffed by volunteers from the community. Solid partnerships with our donors are vital so that together we can help feed the needy in our city. Without the on-going generous support of businesses, churches, schools, service clubs and others, more people would go hungry.

For more information about The Burlington Food Bank, and to learn about our programs within the community, please visit us at http://www.burlingtonfoodbank.ca/home.html

With our sincere thanks

Susan McDougall
Volunteer
Burlington Food Bank

July 30, 2017
BOSL donation to Burlington Food Bank at Golf Day

Thank you BOSL players!!!! Our cheque presentation to the Food Bank here includes $131 (Chris Waters donated the pro-rated portion of his league fee) + $250 (Jeff Palmer donated his prize fee) + $1,800 (our BOSL hole sponsors) + $1,500 (Carson Law donation matching our mid-season contribution) = $2,181.75 for the charity from BOSL and with Carson Law together = $3,681.75

Thanks also to Jaclyn Fox for raising $520 at the Beat the Fox event and to Bobby Grenier for raising $170 for the putting challenge.

June 25, 2017
BOSL donations to Burlington Food Bank after the Mid Season Tournament

We would like to thank BOSL players for being so generous during our mid-season tournament. Today we presented The Burlington Food Bank / Partnership West with our Mid-Season charity contribution of $1,500. They had a donation truck at the tournament and collected our player's direct contributions of food items and additional cash donations of $420... John thanked us for three large barrels of food items and all the support BOSL showed them.

Typically, we hold the charity money until September and then donate as a lump sum. From our conversation with John, this is the critical time for them, so we opted to give them a cheque for the amount raised from the bat raffle, the 50/50 from stag night and the 50/50 from the mid-season. Can't thank you all enough for helping out with this.

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Regards,
Steve Dostal - drrugby75@gmail.com
2017 BOSL Social Director

June 2, 2017
Burlington Food Bank will join us at the Mid Season Tournament

Following is a note from the Food Bank folks...

The Burlington Food Bank/ Partnership West is honoured once again this year to have been chosen as the B. O. S. L’s charity of choice. This selection, as well as its critical timing  means a great deal to our Food Bank because at the end of every school year we see fewer and fewer of certain items on our shelves and we rely on the generosity of individuals and organizations like the Burlington Oldtimers Slo-Pitch League to help us restock our dwindling supplies.

Last summer – due in great part to the contributions of both food and cash from the players in the league – we were able to make life a lot easier for dozens of needy families by providing for them. The combined gift of $8,500 plus the hundreds of pounds of donated food that we collected at your two big tournaments helped to keep us going until Thanksgiving.

This year, once again, we are planning to be present with the Burlington Food Bank truck at the mid-season Tournament, in June and the Championship Tournament, in September. We would be most grateful to the players if they could bring one or many of the following items:

Best Wishes for a Successful Season!
Thank You for Choosing us again in 2017!

Respectfully,
John Love (Board of Directors)
Burlington Food Bank/Partnership West.

February 28, 2017
BOSL Charity 2017

In keeping with the Burlington Oldtimers SloPitch League's commitment to "Giving Back to the Community", We are excited to announce that the Burlington Food Bank – Partnership West will once again be our designated charity for 2017.  This organization has a long tradition of supporting the Burlington community by supplying food for families in need. We will be working with Paul Tammeorg and John Love from the Food Bank to help us plan our fund raising and donations. As always, our fund raising success depends on the support and participation from our membership, we are always looking for volunteers to help us plan our fundraising events.

Last Season, ex-BOSL member John Love joined us at our two tournaments and at Golf Day and thanks to you, we raised $8,500 for families in Burlington. Following is a note from the Food Bank folks...

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From Burlington Food Bank (Partnership West)

On behalf of the Burlington Food Bank Partnership West please accept our most sincere thank you for the financial donations of $8,500.00 and for the hundreds of pounds of food items contributed to us by the players in the league. Your help came at a crucial time of year for our organization - a time when our food supplies are always low.

Please convey our gratitude to the men in the Burlington Oldtimers' Slo-Pitch League. We are truly grateful... for their kindness and generosity. Please also let them know that their contributions were used to make a significant improvement in the lives of hundreds of Burlington residents - especially children - who, because they are poor, struggle to make it through each day.

The summer of 2016 made me realize that the Burlington Oldtimers' Slo-Pitch League is far more than just a collection of men playing ball. True, there are men playing ball - but, more importantly, these same men are making a difference in their community. This difference made by groups is one of the factors taken into account when Burlington is consistently voted the number one mid-sized city in Canada. The BOSL. is an important a part of this evaluation.

Thank you for making us your charity of choice for 2016.
Thank you for making Burlington a better place.

2016
Partnership West Family Support Network - Food Bank

Thanks to the contributions of our members, we are donating a further $2,200 on Wednesday August 24th. This brings our total donations to just over $5,700 so far. This is what we are about. Thanks BOSL!

We met with John Love at our Captains meeting tonight to present them with our Mid-Season charity contribution of $1,705. They had a donation truck at the tournament and collected our player's direct contributions of food items and cash donations... John thanked us for two large barrels of food items and all the support BOSL showed them.

Typically, we hold the charity money until September and then donate as a lump sum. From our conversation with John, this is the critical time for them, so we opted to give them a cheque for the amount raised from the bat raffle at the AGM, the 50/50 from stag night and the 50/50 from the mid-season. Can't thank you all enough for helping out with this.

Thank you for joining us at this season's BOSL Golf Day - We got lucky with the weather and had a great day! Thank you to Rick Fox, Jim Hindley, Jacqueline Fox, Bobby Grenier, Jeff Armour, Lee Labonte for their help during the Day and thanks again to our Sponsors for making this a great event to support Burlington's FOOD BANK.

Jim Hindley,
President BOSL

2016
Partnership West Family Support Network

In Keeping with the Burlington Oldtimers SloPitch League's commitment to "Giving Back to the Community", We are are excited to announce that the Partnership West Family Support Network will be our designated charity for 2016.

This organization has a long tradition of supporting the Burlington community by supplying food for families in need. We will be working with Paul Tammeorg from Partnership West to help us plan our fund raising and donations. As always, our fund raising success depends on the support and participation from our membership, we are always looking for volunteers to help us plan our fundraising events.

Please reach out to a board member or your captains if you want to help!

Following is a note from the Food Bank folks...

The following are items we need right now. If you can encourage the players to all bring a few of these (to the mid-season tournament it would really help us out:

• condiments (mustard, mayonnaise, ketchup, barbecue sauce, relish, salad dressing)
• jam
• coffee (regular, decaf, instant)
• Juice (in big cans and also juice boxes - for children)
• fruit cups (for children)
• granola bars (nut free)
• baby pablum
• baby fruit jars
• hot cereals
• canned fruit
• diapers (size 5)

Ideally, we would place a couple of big bins - or possibly a small trailer - near the Warner Pavillion in Sherwood Park where you usually have the barbecue and "cold refreshments". The players could drop off the items in the bins over the days the tournament is taking place - and we would take all the items away at the end of each day.

The timing of the tournament  (June 17 - 19) could not have been better. We are really grateful that the Burlington Oldtimers' SloPitch League is thinking about us at a crucial time of year when kids are home from school all day long and needy parents - particularly single mothers - have a tough time feeding them.

Thanks for thinking of us.

Jim Hindley,
President BOSL

2015
Breast Cancer Support Services

Liz McFadden, Brian Blume and myself (Nick Popovacki) presented a cheque to Laura Stevenson of Breast Cancer Support Services for $5,650 as part our Giving Back to the Community Charity, on behalf of the BOSL.

I want to personally thank each and every one of you for making this the largest contribution by the BOSL yet for our chosen charity.  From speaking with a lot of you this past summer during our Pink Wrist Band Drive, I heard many stories of family and friends having gone through a lot of what this special charity deals with on a daily basis and we are lucky to have them in our community to support us all.

I saw how important this drive was to many of you and this is why I love playing in this league.  It is not just about baseball. It is about Fun, Fellowship and Friendship!!!
Thank you all again and see you next spring!

Nick Popovacki

Facts about Breast Cancer Support Services:

1. BCSS is supported by community donations and receives limited government funding.
   
   
2. Donations of gently used clothing to one of the many green “Clothing for Charity” boxes help support BCSS by funding our Brant Street location.
   
   
3. BCSS is a ‘self-help’ organization which provides programs and support to women, men and families living with breast and gynecologic cancers.
   
   
4. In addition, we also offer: Individual Peer Support, Soup Social, Guest Speakers, Wigs Bank, Bras and Prosthesis, Yoga, Meditation and Library and Information.
   
   
5. BCSS offers community education on breast cancer free of charge through our Breast Health Workshops to groups throughout Hamilton, Haltom, Niagara and Peel regions.
   
   
6. All of the programs and services of BCSS are free of charge and made possible through our team of dedicated volunteers and volunteer practitioners.
   
   
7. In the 25 years since BCSS was formed, we have expanded to provide services throughout Hamilton, Halton, Niagara and Peel regions.
   
   
8. The BCSS website is accessed internationally as an authority on support services for breast cancer.

Our centre is located at 695 Brant Street in Burlington. You can drop in, phone for support or utilize the free services offered at BCSS

READ MORE about Breast Cancer Support Services

Nick Popovacki, BOSL Director at Large.

2014
JumpStart - Canadian Tire Burlington

Brent Craigie presented our donation to the 2014 season's charity JumpStart - Canadian Tire Burlington. It's all a blur now obviously but the amount was $3,000. Thank you to everyone for your participation in this all season long.

One in three Canadian families cannot afford to enrol their children in sport or recreation activities (Vision Critical 2011). That means that many kids are missing out. Canadian Tire Jumpstart is dedicated to removing barriers, so children can participate in organized sport and recreation. We see it as equipping kids for life, because participation in organized sport and recreation increases a child’s chance for success in life. They discover and participate. They gain self-confidence. They develop self-esteem. They learn leadership skills. Their lives become richer. This is the power of Canadian Tire Jumpstart.

Help us give kids a sporting chance! Donate today

2013
Habitat for Humanity Burlington

Thank you to everyone that participated in our 50/50 draws at the tournaments. This money raised went directly to our league contribution to “Habitat for Humanity Burlington” Above are Brent Craigie, Larry Gagnon and Jim Hindley with the enormous cheque for $2,138.75 - way to go BOSL!

READ MORE about Habitat for Humanity

Brent Craigie, BOSL Director at Large.

2012
Community Living Burlington

Jason Gerrity, Mike Porkolab and Jim Hindley presented our donation to this season's charity Community Living Burlington. It's all a blur now obviously but the amount was $3,500. Thank you to everyone for your participation in this all season long.

In keeping with our honoured tradition of giving back to the community, this year the BOSL has partnered with Community Living Burlington in an effort to help enrich the quality of life, and promote community integration of individuals who have a developmental disability. Community Living Burlington is Burlington’s oldest and largest non-profit organization which currently provides services and support to approximately 350 children and adults within the Burlington community.

June - 2012
Special Olympics Burlington

On behalf our entire league, I just wanted to say thank you for the wonderful picture/plaque that you presented us with on Saturday. It will be displayed with pride on our Awards Wall at our Clubhouse. It was a very nice gesture, so thanks once again.

Also thank you to the Blues for taking the time to come out on a Saturday and play our captains in the exhibition game and being an important part of our tournament weekend. It went very well and the announcing was certainly a great touch. As much as your players seemed to enjoy themselves, our players had the time of their lives.

Hopefully we can do it again one day down the road...
Take care, Mike Porkolab

View photos from 2012 season's special game.

2011
Big Brothers Big Sisters 

Right here in Burlington there are boys and girls waiting for their special friend!

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Hamilton and Burlington provides mentoring services to children between the ages of 6 and 16 – over 1,600 children were supported through the work of this agency in the last year. 

Big Brothers Big Sisters  volunteers are people just like you, they want to make a difference in the life of a boy or girl.

Who were your mentors growing up?  Why not start something…go to their website today www.callbigbrothers.com

The donation from BOSL will stay right here in Burlington and be used to support the work of recruiting additional mentors for the children on the Burlington waiting list.

2011
Nelson Youth Centres

Nelson Youth Centres is an accredited children's mental health centre that provides group based treatment programs for Halton's children and youth and their families. Our services target children who are experiencing moderate to severe emotional, social, behavioural or learning problems, which result in difficulties at home, school and the community.

For more information please contact Cindy McClure, Executive Director

Nelson Youth Centres,
4225 New Street, Burlington, ON, L7L 1T3
Phone   905 681-2611
www.nelsonyouthcentres.com

Giving Back to Our Community