Feb 3, 2021 | Leadership, Community and Partnerships
Well, we have officially made it through the first thirty-one days of 2021 after a year that already seemed never-ending at times. I am happy to be writing to you all today at the start of a new month in this new year that brings fresh opportunity, new insights and a hopeful perspective if we are willing to recognize it.
In this month’s blog, I welcome a new guest blogger who has been a big part of our organization for some time now. Mrs. Bethe Jarcaig, the Chair of the HDGH Foundation Board of Directors, is someone who you will read below is a loyal ambassador for our organization; a leader living and breathing the mission and vision of HDGH. It’s important for you all to learn more about Bethe and the role of our HDGH Foundation in order to begin to understand the adjustments, creativity, and unique changes that have been required from a fundraising perspective since the onset of COVID-19. More today than ever before, the funds raised through our Foundation are required to help support our patients/clients and their loved ones. Our community has supported us through the pandemic (and before) and in turn we support many in our community that need us now and into the coming year or more. Bethe along with the members of both our hospital and Foundation Board are incredibly dedicated volunteers. They give one of the most valuable gifts a person can give – time. This gift of their time allows us here at HDGH to have the potential to change lives and that is exactly what we do together. Thank you to Bethe, to our HDGH Foundation Board along with our loyal and dedicated donors for making this time in our collective history a little brighter. You truly are the gift that keeps on giving.
Stay warm, safe, and healthy,
Jan
There is no doubt that hospitals are being put under increasingly unprecedented fiscal pressures. Recently, the Ontario healthcare sector has undergone significant modifications. One area that has not changed is the importance of philanthropy for hospitals, and how many hospitals use a separate fundraising foundation to implement their fundraising strategies.
The Hôtel-Dieu Grace Healthcare (HDGH) Foundation has adopted this model which allows us the ability to maintain local fundraising efforts. Together, we function as a bridge between the hospital system and the community. Our mission is to be “a trusted foundation transforming healthcare and cultivating a healthier community through generous giving.”
Our Foundation Board of Directors is comprised of diverse individuals, each with critical skills and knowledge, entrusted to care for the foundation’s philanthropic resources. We are the Ambassadors of HDGH, by sharing information, identifying donor opportunities and spreading the word about the hospital and foundation. As Directors, it has been some of the most challenging, most humbling, and most fulfilling work we’ve ever done. But mostly, it’s an incredibly rewarding experience. My role as Foundation Board Chair has allowed me the pleasure of working collaboratively with our Directors, leadership and stakeholder groups, bringing us closer to our community enhancing HDGH’s ability to serve the people of our Windsor-Essex community – YOU!
We have been so fortunate to have so many incredible Windsor-Essex donors. Their generous support has made a meaningful difference to the patients and clients of HDGH. I would be remiss to not mention some of these donors in this blog as they have been instrumental in not only helping us carry forth our mission but also in supporting us through a challenging year on so many fronts.
With that, thank you! Thank you to the Klundert Family of BK Cornerstone, who in the spring of 2020 supported our Foundation with a $190,000 donation from the sale of a home built exclusively to sell for charity. Along with the continued support from Anita Imperioli and In Honour of the Ones We Love, these funds will go to our mental health programs at HDGH.
Thank you for the ongoing active support on our campus from our friends at T2B. Not only have T2B been instrumental in supporting our palliative program for many years but they also donated 24 iPads before the holidays to ensure patients on this unit could stay in touch with their loved ones during the pandemic. They also went as far as recognizing our staff, who have continued to persevere, in gifting each nursing floor with a lovely Tim Horton’s gift basket.
In Honour of the Ones We Love, Anita and your team, we are grateful. Thank you doesn’t seem to suffice. You have been a supporter, a believer, and active members of our HDGH Family and Foundation since day one. You have gifted blankets, keeping palliative patients warm on their darkest of days. You have partnered on events and even designated funds from some of your own. You have provided our staff, visitors, patients and their loved ones a place to sit and nourish through the In Honour Café in the Emara Building and breakfast to some of our community’s most important - our RCC Children. HDGH is better, stronger and healthier because of you.
Dr. Lillian Mok and Family support our RCC programs in a profound way and we look forward to working closely with the Mok Family to help enhance the programs and services provided by their very generous support.
Mr. John Viecelli your passion to make Windsor-Essex and its residents just a little happier is contagious. You have gifted us with a generous donation where we look forward to sharing the details in the upcoming months. It has been a true pleasure getting to know you and your wife, Lia.
To the Solcz Family Foundation. Your grant in supporting the Breaking Free program and those struggling with substance misuse will change lives. Your legacy of giving to this community is one so deeply rooted that you have made a family affair. You continue to add to the story of Windsor-Essex written together, by us all. Our Foundation is grateful to be a chapter in this story.
Finally, to our community. As the Chair of our HDGH Foundation, I have watched you rise with compassion, generosity and love. From PPE, to meals, snacks, signs, and strength, you have amazed us.
To conclude, I would like to encourage the readers today to please visit the HDGH’s Foundation website to learn more about some of the upcoming ways you can help us build a stronger, healthier Windsor-Essex. It can be as easy as purchasing online 50/50 tickets (happening now!)
As a true ambassador would do, my hope is that you see the opportunity for change, for movement, to raise up and continue to strengthen our footing, base, foundation - together, as one.
Bethe Jarcaig
Chair, HDGH Foundation Board of Directors