The Chair of the Board of the Huron Hospice brought Goderich councillors up to date on their capital campaign at this week's council meeting on January 30.
Jay McFarlan says he had two reasons for making the presentation. The first was to say thank you, and the second was to bring council up to date on the status of the campaign.
“Back in February of 2021 the town of Goderich gave us $15,000 towards our campaign. So that was a really important gift from a local municipality, which really helped to encourage a lot of the other local municipalities to get on board with our campaign, too," McFarlan said.
McFarlan says the second part of the presentation was to announce something special.
“The other purpose of our presentation was to was to announced that we have reached our campaign goal. We have officially raised the 1.6 million to go towards expanding the beds at Huron Hospice from four to six and being able to meet the growing demands of our community," McFarlan shared.
McFarlan says they didn't have a hard deadline for raising the money because COVID-19 changed whatever plans they might have made, and made it very difficult to get out and talk with people. He adds, it took them about two and a half years to hit their target, and he says that's a reflection of the very generous community we live in.
McFarlan says more and more people are realizing the benefits a hospice brings to a community. And he concedes when someone loses someone special, it's a very tough experience, but a hospice can provide the supports that can make that experience as good as it can be.