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<\/a><\/p>\nCelebrity and philanthropist Jenny Jones loved her sister. And her sister, Liz Rankin, loved My Sisters\u2019 Place.<\/p>\n
So it was appropriate that when her sister died, Jones decided to donate $50,000 to the London women\u2019s shelter. And it was appropriate the donation be announced among dozens of women there Wednesday.<\/p>\n
“It was very close to her, what they do here,\u201d said Andrea VanderWeide, who\u2019s Rankin\u2019s daughter and Jones\u2019s niece. \u201cMy mom had mentioned to my aunt many times that this was a charity that meant something to her. My aunt is pretty shook up. She wanted to honour my mom\u2019s memory.\u201d<\/p>\n The Jones family grew up in London, with the matriarch the original Sophie of Sophie\u2019s Gown Shoppe, where growing up, Jenny and her sister, Liz, would pose in the windows as models and help with the sewing. Jenny Jones became a household name, hosting her own talk show from 1990 to 2003, and a generous, behind-the- scenes contributor to many causes.<\/p>\n Liz Rankin became a loyal employee at Drewlo Holdings in London, retiring only a few years ago. She died suddenly May 7, 2017, at 73. \u201cMy mom was a strong, independent woman,\u201d VanderWeide said. \u201cIf there is anything that stands out about my mom, in the memory of anyone who ever met her, it would be her desire to help. She knows somewhere that she is still helping.\u201d<\/p>\n Not long after Rankin\u2019s death, My Sisters\u2019 Place received a phone call from someone who said she was Jenny Jones, director Susan Macphail recalled. \u201cI said, is that the Jenny Jones? She called because she had just suffered a heartbreak. Her beloved sister had passed away.\u201d Jones spoke about her love of her sister and her support of women helping women, Macphail said. Jones wasn\u2019t able to attend Wednesday\u2019s announcement.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s always bittersweet when we receive a gift that is in memory of someone,\u201d said Beth Mitchell, chief executive of Canadian Mental Health Association Middlesex, which operates My Sisters\u2019 Place. \u201cWe know it represents a loss for the family and the community. On the other hand, we hope that this legacy brings some comfort. Certainly, for us it brings us much joy and we know it will be used well.\u201d<\/p>\n Two women who use My Sisters\u2019 Place spoke Wednesday about the impact of the organization on their lives. \u201cBefore I found My Sisters\u2019 Place, I was homeless, addicted and suffering from severe mental health issues,\u201d Beth said. \u201cWith the help of My Sisters\u2019 Place, I am housed, happily married, no longer addicted and my mental health is in check.\u201d<\/p>\n Just coming each day and seeing women who want to help changes lives, Patricia said. \u201cIt gives us a sense of hope, coming in and seeing friends and people just gathered around.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Celebrity and philanthropist Jenny Jones loved her sister. And her sister, Liz Rankin, loved My Sisters\u2019 Place. So it was appropriate that when her sister died, Jones decided to donate $50,000 to the London women\u2019s shelter. And it was appropriate the donation be announced among dozens of women there Wednesday. This plaque will hang […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,22],"tags":[25,23,24],"class_list":["post-7955","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-family","category-philanthropy","tag-celebrity-philanthropists","tag-jenny-jones","tag-jenny-jones-philanthropy"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jennyjones.com\/myblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7955","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jennyjones.com\/myblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jennyjones.com\/myblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jennyjones.com\/myblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jennyjones.com\/myblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7955"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/www.jennyjones.com\/myblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7955\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7975,"href":"https:\/\/www.jennyjones.com\/myblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7955\/revisions\/7975"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jennyjones.com\/myblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7955"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jennyjones.com\/myblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7955"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jennyjones.com\/myblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7955"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a>This plaque will hang at My Sister’s Place in appreciation of a $50,000 donation from Jenny Jones in memory of her sister, Liz Rankin.<\/em> (DEREK RUTTAN, The London Free Press)<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/a>The shelter decided to put the money toward several women\u2019s empowerment programs, including a theatre group, financial literacy sessions, peer support and self-compassion groups, which don\u2019t have regular funding.<\/p>\n