MILTON – “It’s amazing!” said Hospice Wellington executive director Pat Stuart, of the $169,000 donation from the Co-operators Annual Charity Golf Tournament at Glenclairn Golf Club.
“I didn’t have any expectations” of how much might be raised, she noted, and didn’t know the total until the cheque was officially presented.
“When I got up there and they said $169,000, and presented the large cheque, I think my mouth fell open,” Stuart said, and she shed “tears of joy.
“I’m not speechless too often, but I was,” she added.
“That helps us so much – I can’t even tell you,” she said, and being chosen as the beneficiary this year “really meant so much.”
Kristina Gilley, the chair of the Co-operators Charity Golf Tournament committee, said members vote on who will be the recipient of the fundraiser each year.
Hospice Wellington was an option that touched close to home.
Gilley said some people at Co-operators, including herself, have first hand experience with the impact made by Hospice Wellington.
“My father had cancer,” Gilley said, and “the people who work at Hospice are angelic – the nursing staff, the workers, the administrative team – everyone was phenomenal.
“Not only did they support my father in his last week of life, they supported my mother, and they still do today.”
In addition to raising money for Hospice Wellington, part of the goal of the tournament is to “raise awareness about the programs and services” it offers, Gilley noted.
“We wanted to get out the message of what they do, what they offer, not only for the individual going through the end of life experience but also for the family members.”
Hospice Wellington has been providing a range of services to Guelph and Wellington for 43 years – launching in 1980.
All of their services are entirely free of charge, and Wellington Hospice “depend on donations and on fundraisers,” Stuart said.
In addition to the residential hospice, with “10 beds and room for family to stay with their loved one,” Stuart noted there is “also a large community program.”
She said the community programs are open to everyone – not only people who have loved ones stay at the residential hospice.
Stuart encourages anyone who is “suffering with grief and the loss of someone to reach out to us and we will help them.
“We are here to help you and we are open to all of the community.
“You don’t have to have any connection with the hospice,” she said, “you can just phone us. We aren’t going to say no. We are going to plan something that is going to be able to help you.”
Hospice Wellington programs include bereavement support groups, park therapy, music therapy, gentle yoga, Reiki, massage, therapeutic touch, therapy dog programs, spiritual supports, and walking groups in Mount Forest and Guelph.
Stuart said Wellington Hospice has over 150 volunteers who are the “heart and sole of Hospice – without them we would not be here.”
She noted community partnerships like the one with the Co-operators “sustain us and bring us so much joy, because we really want to help people, and this enables us to do that.”
This was the 27th Co-operators Golf Tournament, and to-date the annual event has raised over $1.27 million.
