Quilt raffle raises funds for hospice group
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
We need your support!
Local journalism needs your support!
As we navigate through unprecedented times, our journalists are working harder than ever to bring you the latest local updates to keep you safe and informed.
Now, more than ever, we need your support.
Starting at $14.99 plus taxes every four weeks you can access your Brandon Sun online and full access to all content as it appears on our website.
Subscribe Nowor call circulation directly at (204) 727-0527.
Your pledge helps to ensure we provide the news that matters most to your community!
The Westman Hopsice Association is coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic calling for more volunteers and raising money to ensure that everyone in the area has access to proper care.
Recently, the group raffled off a quilt, hand-stitched by volunteer May Lyons, and raised nearly $7,000 in the process. Ticket sales for the quilt amounted to $2,700, and donations made up the rest, said Harvey Douglas, the association’s treasurer.
“During COVID, [May] had a lot of spare time, and that’s the way she kept herself busy … making this quilt,” Douglas said. “She decided that she would donate it to the hospice association to raffle off as a way to raise some money and to do something good with her handiwork.”
May Lyons (pictured) spent two years hand-crafting a quilt for the Westman Hospice Association, a volunteer group of which she is a member, to raffle off. In total, the raffle raised nearly $7,000. (Submitted)
To raise awareness about the quilt lottery, the group set up displays to show it off at Canadian Tire, the Royal Bank on 18th Street, and Westoba Credit Union. The quilt also made the rounds at craft sales around Westman, Douglas said.
The Westman Hospice Association has advocated for more care for those who need it for the last 25 years.
As the Sun previously reported last May, the group hosted a five-kilometre walk around the Riverbank Discovery Centre with board members and volunteers participating.
Looking forward to the future, association president Betty Hinch said the group is actively trying to think up new and creative ways of fundraising.
“We’ve been wanting to try to set up sort of like an open forum where we’d get somebody, maybe a palliative doctor, to speak to people who would like to know more information,” she said. “We’re tying to find lots of means and ways of getting everybody’s attention so that we can really do fundraising in earnest.”
The COVID-19 pandemic not only put a damper on fundraising, but also saw some volunteers leave the group, either to go back to work or due to other reasons, Hinch said.
“We need volunteers.”
Volunteers serve palliative care patients and their families in many ways, Douglas said, from providing companionship and emotional support to caregiver respite and other practical supports.
“Caregiver respite and bereavement support is one of the most important things after you lose a loved one,” Douglas said. “There is no roadmap for this journey. Everyone’s life — and death — is unique.”
» mleybourne@brandonsun.com
» Twitter: @miraleybourne