13 per cent of the funds it needs for a digital mammography machine
Donations to Lake of the Woods District Hospital Foundation increased to $607,672 this year allowing the foundation to allocate $537,664 for hospital. The figures were presented at the foundation’s annual general meeting on June 9, amid recognition for volunteers and the unveiling of its new board.
Last year marked a record for the foundation’s golf tournament, raising $44,000 and rounding out its top three events, the Lifesavers Auction and Dinner brought in $93,000 and the Tree of Life gathered $42,000.
Former nurse and operating room manager, Donna Wallace will step up to the chairman position from vice-chairman. She said new fundraising ideas are on the horizon for the foundation and while it has been successful in increasing its presence in the community, the next step is to build on the understanding of universal access and community ownership to the hospital.
“The hospital always functioned without the foundation but with the foundation, we’re able to make their work easier,” she said. “There’s always something to do. There’s always something to buy and it’s getting the community to work with us and it’s making it easier for the foundation.”
Two-year chairman Thelma Wilkins-Page will stay on as past president for two years and has committed to another year as a board member, leading into 2014.
Gordon Horne will stay on as co-secretary treasurer with Stephen Lundin and directors for next year include Bill Scribilo, Gary Forsyth, Cathy Linton, Claudette Edie, Mitchell Boulette, Steven Marquis and Kris Tittlemier.
The task ahead for foundation managing director Jess Rheault is raising $1.2 million for a single piece of equipment, without assistance from the province. Approximately one woman is diagnosed with breast cancer every two weeks in Kenora and every year, there are 1,650 mammograms performed by an analog machine, which requires monthly repairs. Others rely on a mobile breast cancer bus that passes through the community every year. Thanks partly to this month’s Boobie Nights concert, which raised $30,000, the foundation has 13 per cent of the funds it needs for a digital mammography machine.
“We’re having those 1,650 people waiting in line to be screened on the bus, have to go to Winnipeg, or can they be here at home close to family just in case they receive that breast cancer diagnosis,” she said, illustrating digital mammography Images can spot a lump the size of a blueberry where a woman checking regularly wouldn’t discover it until it’s the size of a walnut. “It doesn’t have to be a death sentence anymore and there are survivors. Then you join the Dragon Tamers. They’re the proof.”
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