The Sisters of St. Joseph of Sault Ste. Marie are committed to clean water. We join with others and support a Blue Community. There is nothing more important than clean water. We need it for drinking, sanitation and household uses. Communities need water for economic, social, cultural and spiritual purposes. Yet water services and water resources are under growing pressure. Communities everywhere – including in Canada – are experiencing extreme weather, including record levels of drought, intense rain and flooding. At the same time, privatization, the bottling of water, and industrial projects are threatening our water services and sources. A growing global movement is taking action to protect water as a commons and a public trust. A commons is a cultural and natural resource – like air or water – that is vital to our survival and must be accessible to all members of a community. These resources are not owned privately, but are held collectively to be shared, carefully managed and enjoyed by all. A “Blue Community” adopts a water commons framework and treats water as a common good that is shared by everyone and the responsibility of all. Because water is essential for human life, it must be governed by principles that allow for reasonable use, equal distribution and responsible treatment in order to preserve water for nature and future generations.

Meet James Lazarou (95 years of age) and Sister Betty Mitchell (90 years of age). Working together they create beautiful blankets with James knitting strips and Sister Betty putting them together. The blankets have been donated to charity including the homeless aided through St. John's Church, Transition House and they are now also selling the blankets to raise money for the Gathering Place and the Food Bank. The blankets come in a variety of sizes. Yarn donations would be greatly appreciated. You can contact James at 705-494-7654. Click on the title to see James and Betty with one of their projects