On 27 October 2016, while attending a course at the Toronto Police College, MCpl Charlesworth, a member of the Canadian Forces National Investigation Service (CFNIS) was informed that his wife Vanessa had been diagnosed with Leukemia.  MCpl Charlesworth immediately returned to Ottawa and met Vanessa at the hospital where she had been admitted and commenced her radiation therapy.

Interested in helping, LS McLachlan reached out to the family to determine what could be done.  MCpl Charlesworth and Vanessa, were extremely appreciative and indicated that blood donations would be best as Vanessa will require a large quantity of blood in her fight against Leukemia.

In order to show our support for Vanessa, members of the CFNIS as well as MCpl Charlesworth’s classmates from the Toronto Police Service and the York Regional Police Service will be donating blood through the Canadian Blood Bank Services in their local area.

​If you are interested in assisting, you can join the CFNIS during the afternoon of 26 January 2017 at Ottawa Blood Donor Centre, 1575 Carling Avenue, Ottawa.  

If you are interested please contact LS McLachlan at corbin.mclachlan@forces.gc.ca.

​If you recall from our post on our Facebook page last week, we have received numerous complaints about the significant delays in obtaining retirement gifts (the shadow boxes). As you know, the CMPA does not produce these shadow boxes ourselves, they are outsourced from a 3rd party. Unfortunately, we had significant supply chain problems throughout 2016, which forced us to take some drastic actions behind the scenes to make it right.

A shipment was received from our new supplier a week before the Christmas block leave period started. However, despite good intentions to get these shipped out, the "real world" intervened and shipments were unavoidably delayed. I'm sure all of you understand what happens when unexpected military priorities throw a monkey wrench into the works.

Those of you that have been patiently waiting for these shadow boxes can rest assured that they should be in the mail this week.

Along with a new and more reliable 3rd party vendor, we are also convening a Special Executive meeting on 23 Jan 17 in order to refine our retirement gift process to better serve our members.

​“Thunderbird lives with the other spirits in heaven and works with them to control the affairs of men.  His thunder and lightning warn of the death of a member of his sign and Killerwhale called ‘Spouting-at-Mouth-of-River’ comes to take away a dead person.  He takes him aboard a small canoe, which then becomes a killer whale.  The dead one is told to spout, and if he does he goes to heaven with Thunderbird and Killerwhale.  If he does not, he is taken back to his grave and left there”.

​(As published in The Thunderbird Journal, Autumn 1983)