Ever since it opened in 1995, the Prince George Rotary Hospice House has been providing a vital service to the community, offering palliative care to allow people to die with dignity.
Donors appreciate the caring attention the Hospice Society freely provides its guests in the final stages of their lives as residents of the big white house overlooking the Fraser River on Clapperton Street and on Tuesday they showed how much they value the services and programs the society provides by presenting a $25,000 donation raised by the Prince George Downtown Rotary Club.
The money will be used to pay for the room renovation project to revamp the 10 rooms where guests stay with their families.
"The society is very pleased with the support we've received lately and certainly today we received not only the monetary support but the community support behind that," said Prince George Hospice Society president Steve Henderson, a member of the Downtown Rotary Club.
"The Rotary Club has spent two years working on fundraising and it's a combination of people working to support a healthy community in Prince George. As a society, we believe that the work and services we offer help build a stronger community. As we all know, the population is aging and maybe services like this are going to be more in demand in the future."
The Hospice House opened in May 1995 and was expanded to 10 rooms in 2009. After 10 years of steady use those rooms need to be updated. The Hospice Society is working with service clubs like the Rotary to offer naming opportunities as an incentive to get more groups or individuals involved with the remodeling project.
In October, the society sold out its annual Hospice Dream Home Lottery raffle and its 50-50 raffle also proved popular, which will cover operating costs for the year.
"Aside from the fundraisers, we have financial support from people like the Rotary and families that want to help us with donations that make the hospice sustainable," said Henderson.
Volunteers work at Hospice House in the office, kitchen, cleaning rooms and providing relief for family members who need to step away from their loved ones temporarily. Henderson says that free labour minimizes costs and raises the comfort level of guests who appreciate the high level of care the volunteers provide.
"Honestly, we couldn't survive without that," said Henderson. "We have people baking cookies, we have people coming in to sit with those who need time off. Respite is a big part of this.
"Taking care of someone who is a big responsibility and it's onerous and volunteers are happy to do that. They get trained and sit with family members to help alleviate the constant pressure that comes with these kind of scenarios."
For more information about the society and Hospice House, go to hospiceprincegeorge.ca.
