Primarily through collecting business cards from the people she meets, Janis Cole discovered these gems in or near this community of 400 people northwest of Peterborough.

Enthusiastic about supporting local business, Janis is considering developing a community directory that would provide an inventory of businesses in Wilberforce and immediate surrounding area.

“To raise our profile and to promote ourselves, that would be my hope,” says Janis.

Janis is exploring the support for a community directory as her peace builder promise. The Peterborough Peace Builder Campaign, to be launched during October’s Month Without Violence, calls on residents to make a promise of action to reduce violence and build a better community. The commitment doesn’t have to be massive; it could be as simple as mowing the lawn for an elderly neighbour or giving a single mom a break for a few hours.

The Peaceful Communities steering group, composed of various community partners who are leading the campaign, intends to build social capital through the exercise and create an inventory of the positive things happening in the Peterborough area.

Janis was inspired to make her promise after collecting numerous business cards boasting of local services in her community. For those new to the area and tourists, she thought a directory would be a useful tool to promote local enterprise. It’s “for people to use our services right in our community of 400. I’m not sure if people know what is here.” She has turned to the telephone book but hasn’t had much success.

In coming weeks, Janis intends to explore whether community support for this resource exists. If so, she envisions developing a working directory on her computer, printing it off and having copies made available at the general store and other locations within Wilberforce.

“It would increase productivity and income and that would be good for everyone.”

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