Area Lions Clubs unite for $350,000 hospice fundraising drive
Clubs launch regional campaign to raise money for future Aboyne Rural Hospice
WELLINGTON COUNTY – Lions Clubs across the county and area are uniting to raise $350,000 for the future Aboyne Rural Hospice.
Denis Vinette, chair of the South Wellington Community Lions Club, came up with the idea.
“I led the effort back when we did Lions for Groves for the diabetes wing at the new hospital,” Vinette said of the new Groves Memorial Community Hospital, which opened in 2020.
Over a couple years, Lions Clubs raised $250,000 for the hospital.
Vinette has teamed with Fergus Lions Club president George Laurencic to orchestrate a new fundraising campaign for the hospice: Lions for Aboyne Rural Hospice.
It includes 10 clubs in Wellington North, Centre Wellington, Erin, Grand Valley, East Garafraxa and Guelph/Eramosa.
“We thought we could do even better,” Vinette said of the latest campaign.
Through fundraising efforts such as breakfasts, high tea, book sales, garage sales and road tolls, the group aims to raise $175,000 locally, to be matched dollar-for-dollar in U.S. dollars by Lions International.
“We’re targeting $350,000 for the hospice,” Vinette said, with around $85,000 already earmarked toward the campaign.
“We’re going to manage to do it,” he added.
Laurencic said fundraising efforts will begin in earnest in September, following a summer lull, lasting until at least next spring.
“It would be very difficult for one club to raise [$175,000], but 10 clubs can do it,” Laurencic said.
Clarissa Burke, an Elora family physician and member of the Aboyne Rural Hospice board of directors, said board members are buoyed by the Lions’ enthusiasm to get behind the cause.
“We need more end-of-life care options to serve our community as our community grows and as our population ages,” Burke said.
Hospices provide specialized end-of-life care in a home-like environment, while also providing support for caregivers.
Despite a 10-bed hospice in Guelph, Burke said Wellington County is underserved considering its size.
“We really want to create something that feels like a closer-to-home fit for rural Wellington County,” she said.
Hospices don’t receive enough provincial funding to get off the ground, Burke noted.
“Fundraising is a major part of how hospices are built, and then how hospices continue to operate,” she said.
The Lions’ “substantial” donation, Burke said, would go toward equipment and furnishings in 10 planned rooms.
