IODE LAURENTIAN
  • Welcome
  • Who We Are
  • What We Do
    • Overview
    • Our Funding Recipients
    • Our Sponsors
    • Every Member Counts
    • Car Rally & Scavenger Hunt
    • Previous House & Garden Tours >
      • 2019 58th Annual House & Garden Tour
      • 2018 57th Annual House & Garden Tour
      • 2017 56th Annual House & Garden Tour
      • 2016 55th Annual House & Garden Tour
      • 2015 54th Annual House & Garden Tour
    • Gananoque Lunch & Theatre Day Trips
    • Great IODE Garage & Bake Sale
    • Linden House Theatre Benefit Night
  • Testimonials
  • Members
    • President’s Message
    • Calendar of Events
    • 2020-21 Executive & Officers
    • By-Laws
    • Policies
  • Join
  • Contact Us

Welcome to IODE Laurentian

Serving Ottawa since 1906

Who We Are

A Proud History

IODE Laurentian is a group of 47 women — ranging in age from 17 to 90 — who come from all backgrounds and parts of Ottawa. We are bound together by our shared commitment to helping others.

Our story began in 1906 when 23-year old Lady Sybil Grey, daughter of the Governor General, invited 15 Ottawa women to form a local chapter of the new Imperial Order of the Daughters of the Empire.

Our first major project raised 100% of the funds needed to build the Lady Grey Sanitorium which eventually became the Royal Ottawa Hospital.

Throughout the world wars, we ran soldiers’ canteens, sent comforts to people serving overseas, established a veterans’ loans fund, and offered relief to the unemployed by paying rents and heating fuel. We also began to endow scholarships.

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Photo: Lady Sybil Grey

In recent years, we have proudly raised more than one million dollars to support local charities, particularly those serving women and children at risk.

These days we are known more simply (and less quaintly) as IODE but we remain just as committed to helping in Ottawa where we’re needed most.
Successes in 2020

  • Over $38,000 contributed in funds and in-kind donations
  • 5,200 hours volunteered
  • $9,261 of new and used items donated to organizations serving people in need in Ottawa
  • $5,000 awarded to the Youville Centre
  • $8,700 scholarships and bursaries
  • $5,500 to the Banff Avenue Community House summer programs and food bank
  • $4,150 awarded to the Ottawa Food Bank, Youth Services Bureau, Caring & Sharing, Interval House, Nelson House, Veterans’ House and Meals on Wheels
  • $1,635 worth of books, toys and supplies to two indigenous classrooms in Cat Lake, Northern Ontario
  • $1,255 to Labrador Snack Pack
Picture
  • Welcome
  • Who We Are
  • What We Do
    • Overview
    • Our Funding Recipients
    • Our Sponsors
    • Every Member Counts
    • Car Rally & Scavenger Hunt
    • Previous House & Garden Tours >
      • 2019 58th Annual House & Garden Tour
      • 2018 57th Annual House & Garden Tour
      • 2017 56th Annual House & Garden Tour
      • 2016 55th Annual House & Garden Tour
      • 2015 54th Annual House & Garden Tour
    • Gananoque Lunch & Theatre Day Trips
    • Great IODE Garage & Bake Sale
    • Linden House Theatre Benefit Night
  • Testimonials
  • Members
    • President’s Message
    • Calendar of Events
    • 2020-21 Executive & Officers
    • By-Laws
    • Policies
  • Join
  • Contact Us