Director of DVHS Sue Capyk alongside Trudy Demorest, founding member, first President and known lovingly amongst DVHS people as the “Mother of Hospice”
The annual Celebration of Caring Hands fundraiser in support of end-of-life care was “better than ever” said a tired but elated Janet Shaw, President of the Desert Valley Hospice Society, at evening’s end on Saturday.
“We are tremendously blessed to live and operate our Society in the generous, caring and committed communities of Osoyoos and Oliver. Thank you does not start to express our appreciation to the local companies and individuals who together donated more than $15,000 worth of goods and services to our auction, and to all the people who opened their wallets so generously to make tonight such a success,” she said.
The wine & cheese and auction event is DVHS’ biggest fundraiser of the year. Held for the first time ever in the spectacular foyer of Frank Venables Theatre, this year’s glittering evening included wines from the event’s host winery, Moon Curser Vineyards; live music; an always popular bake sale; and fast and furious bidding and out-bidding in silent and live auctions.
The event also served as welcome to DVHS’ newest Board Directors, elected just five days earlier at DVHS’ Annual General Meeting. New to the Board include Steven Hopp, Christine Yost, and Pat Wycherley from Osoyoos, and Ron Pidduck from Oliver.
“I am very pleased to welcome these new and enthusiastic board members to our team. With the recent opening a month ago of our new Supportive Care Centre, we’ve got an exciting but very busy year ahead. Though our new facility currently cannot offer hospice beds, as we hope it may in the future, it does provide us ideal space to offer all kinds of end-of-life education, hospice support, and bereavement services. We’ve already got some programs and services running and we’ve got plans for how we’d like to expand that over the coming months. So, having eager hearts and hands at our Board table is especially important right now,” says Shaw.
Already, expansion of DVHS’ hospice programs is underway. Volunteers now provide in-hospital support daily between 4:30 and 6:30 pm. A drop-in Bereavement support program is now available one day a week in both Oliver and Osoyoos. Advance Care Planning workshops have been held and DVHS expects to offer assistance to clients in developing an Advance Care Plan in the new year. DVHS also intends to increase the number of trained hospice volunteers in order to expand its program offerings and increase the number of clients served.
DVHS has made enormous strides in the past year, not least of which is the recent opening of their Supportive Care Centre in Osoyoos. The Centre, which will serve as the primary home for the Society, has been made possible through a generous three year operating agreement with BC Housing.
While the new walls are important, it is the Society’s human capital that is of even greater value. DVHS’ work is only possible because of the support of 32 trained hospice volunteers, 17 committed Board and Committee members, approximately 100 members, and numerous supporters and donors. As of July 2014, active hospice volunteers gave 1,215 hours of support to clients, an increase of 62 per cent over 2013.
“Our hospice volunteers are at the heart of all we do,” says Shaw. “I applaud and celebrate these special people who are willing to improve the quality of human life each and every day they help another human being. Their gift of compassionate caring makes such a difference in the lives of those we support in our communities.”