December 2015 Newsletter2 NHDHA

Volume 1, Issue 5
Newsletter Date: December 2015
Volunteer Voices
It looks like Santa came to our area a lot sooner than we all anticipated. Our “Here’s Looking at You” campaign was a two year fundraising goal of $100,000.00. This was a huge commit‐
ment but a vision we knew we could meet. This fundraising goal was in place to support the purchase of a portable x‐ray machine, a portable ultrasound and a blood analyzer for our hospital was a highlight of the year. As in past years, our communities stepped forward to help us work towards this goal. Numerous activities throughout 2015 like our radiothon, smile cookie campaign, sales from both the cafe and New to You store, to name just a few, allowed us to work towards meeting this two year commitment. t the October 30th Anniversary A
Dinner, a cheque in the amount of $100,000.00 was presented to Kim Bishop, Chair of the Bancroft Fund Development Committee. What an accomplishment and thanks must go out to all the Auxiliary members who made our two year dream come true in our first year. Pictured here is the Executive presenting the $100,000.00 cheque V o l u m e
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It is hard to believe that our 30th Anniversary year is coming to an end. Our 2015‐16 campaign, “Here’s Looking at You” has been a lot of fun as well as successful! Presenting a cheque for $100,000.00 at our Anniversary dinner to the Fund Development Committee towards the purchase of a portable x‐ray machine, a portable ultrasound and a blood analyzer for our hospital was a highlight of the year! Our successful summer campaigns, the Radiothon and the Smile Cookies enabled us to meet our goal after only one year. Amazing volunteers are able to accomplish great feats. We thank our generous residents, sponsors and visitors that facilitate us in reaching our goal. Our New to You shop lost a couple of wonderful Coordinators this past fall for health reasons. We welcomed two new coordinators who have taken on the role with enthusiasm and creativity. Our Corner Café has continued to offer excellent food, and good prices in a friendly atmosphere. The Corner Café is especially welcoming with the thirteen beautifully decorated trees from Commu‐
nity businesses. New volunteers are coming on board thanks to our co‐convenors of recruitment. Attending the Christmas craft fair in Bancroft was a positive outing for them. Our 30th Anniversary Dinner was an enjoyable night for all, excellent food and entertainment. A great team put together a very special night. The Festival of Trees has sparked a lot of positive interest in this new endeavour for our Auxiliary. We look forward to the friendly competition created by the silent auction that will continue to assist our hospital. On a sad note, we are sorry to have lost an Auxiliary member this past fall, Bob Kay. Our thoughts and continued support go out to Joan. Volunteerism is truly defined by our enthusiastic, creative and TIRELESS Auxiliary members who have made this year so successful! Debbie Speck 2
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The Café is a wonderful stop for a coffee or lunch these days as the Festival of Trees is in full swing. Thirteen beautiful trees (and one Charlie Brown Tree pictured to the right) surround the tables with lights shining bright and add a real cheer. Volunteers and customers alike feel their spirits rising as the spirit of the community surrounds them. Volunteers have also been busy decorating the Charlie Brown tree. Stained glass ornaments and hand‐made beaded stars cover the branches or at least they do as I write this. Sales are good and the tree is losing some of its sparkle! Don’t wait too long to come in and see the treats. Look at the poinsettia and angel pins that are for sale as well. At the beginning of December we had a hot turkey sandwich special and we will follow it up with corned beef on rye Dec. 14th – 18th. In January, we plan a mac & cheese with sausage or ham and a green salad special on Jan 12th and 13th with corned beef on rye the week of Jan 25th. An extra special has been a no‐salt added lentil soup provided by Gwen Best. It is offered every other Wednesday and is proving to be a customer favourite. C ome in and try some! We have a number of new volunteers to the café. Come in for a coffee and meet Kate Fentie, Kenda Gillespie and Jade Hitchens. We would all be glad to see you! E u c h r e
A good group continues to come out on the second Saturday of the month. We have a fun time even though rotation through the tables still causes some confusion!!! It has only been since 2009. Has it really been that long?? Thanks so much to those who have helped though out the year … Sue Stevens, Phyllis Till, Arva Tryon, Debbie Speck, Irene Halliday, Elda Sopha, Stuart Martin, Mary McCann, Rita Kerr and Sharron Hitchens. 3
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Great year at the New to You Shop. The shop has had a face lift with new flooring in place, a fresh coat of paint and some updated decorating to add the ambiance of a second hand clothing boutique. Two new co conveners, Glenna Armstrong and Bernadette Armstrong have taken over the daily managing of the shop. Great team spirit is always present with lots of fun and camaraderie among the volunteers. For all it continues to be a pleasure to volunteer at the New to You Shop. S m i l e
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Thanks to Glen and Nancy Keating our Smile Cookie Campaign surpassed last year! We were able to staff both Tim Horton’s sites for most of our shifts. Many Auxiliary members brought their special smiles and bright personalities to encourage those donations. Thanks also to members that staffed the TD bank who supported our cookie sales. Our total of $10,240.00 was a combination of cookie sales and donations! Let’s continue to support this successful campaign. Pictured above are some auxiliary members with Nancy Keating. V o l u m e
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Our 30th anniversary dinner was held on Wednesday October 21st and what a success! 92 tickets were sold and we had great representation from all areas of the auxiliary. We had 14 people from the general public who just wanted to celebrate with us. Patti Flynn‐Erwin did an excellent job as convenor and made sure we had a dinner to remember. Jane Batey was in attendance representing HAAO in addition to Catherine Walker from QHC. Of course the highlight of the evening was a presentation of a cheque for $100,000.00 by our President Debbie Speck to Kim Bishop, Chair of the Bancroft Fund Development Committee. A two year commitment made in one year as a result of our hard working volunteers. 9
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Our Annual Radiothon, July 17‐18th, sponsored by MOOSE FM brought us a little closer to our fundraising goal. Thanks to the staff at Moose Fm, Mike McAlpine, Jackie Dixon and Ducinda, the Auxiliary were made to feel supported and welcome at the station. Members answered phones, recorded pledges and greeted people that came to the station. Price Ford supported the event with a charity barbecue on the Friday, serving up sausages, burgers and hot dogs. Auxiliary members seemed to have enjoyed themselves cooking and visiting with their customers. Customers raved about the delicious fare! On Saturday, Dave’s Place once again, held a charity breakfast. Our members displayed their zest for serving the public as they served up many delicious breakfasts. This year we were able to take donations using Credit cards which decreased our need for extensive follow up after the event. Thanks to Irene Halliday and Sue Sutherland for assisting with convening this event. Congratulations to all volunteers, $29,000.00 was the result from the MOOSE FM Radiothon. 5
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Some of us got together at No Frills to celebrate the end of Round‐Up. I expect you'll recognize Rose Goodwin, Janice Kunz, Beth Pepin, President Debbie Speck, Trish and Michael Brooks and Val Winsor. Dave MacKenzie is seen over Janice's shoulder. The star of the photograph though is that big fat cheque!
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This year the Hospital Auxiliary partook in the Bancroft Santa Claus Parade. It was a beautiful warm day and there were lots and lots of spectators. It was a great opportunity to promote our Festival of Trees initiative. The photographs below simply demonstrate our enthusiasm towards this new venture. A Creative group of volunteers designed the float and then added elves and Mrs. Claus for the march through town. What a fun time!" Volunteers opened the Corner Café for a pre‐Parade lunch and for free hot chocolate or cider. 6
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This year the auxiliary kicked off a new fundraiser, our Festival of Trees. Home Hardware was very generous by donating twelve Christmas trees to this initiative. Then numerous businesses in the Bancroft area stepped forward to decorate the trees with interesting items/
themes at no cost. The decorated trees were then put up for silent auction. These beautiful trees lined the windows and walls at the café. On December 12th, the winners of the tree auction were announced! An excess of $2,000.00 was raised ‐ what an excellent fundraising event ! C h r i s t m a s
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Rose Goodwin and Trish Brooks attended the annual craft show held at the Legion this year. They were looking for new volunteers; however, at the same time they sold crafts. These crafts were very generously donated by members of the Auxiliary as well as friends of the Auxiliary. We were very grateful to everyone that was able to donate these items to be sold. The result of this effort was a $631.00 profit for our organization. We did not sign anyone up at the time; however, we spoke with many people and are hopeful some of these folks will contact us in the future. Fabulous donations made by our Auxiliary members
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The Auxiliary would like to welcomed seven new members so far this year. We are so fortunate to have these new volunteers. Please make an effort to introduce yourself to them. Some of them shied away from having their picture taken for our newsletter but we were able to get a couple of photos so watch for their smiles: Sue Sutherland – Information Desk Marcelle Wilkinson – New To You Shirley Palmer – New To You Nan McGhee – New to You Barbara Reid – Café Kenda Gillespie – Café Jade Hitchens – Café Rose Goodwin, Dianne Martin, and myself, Trish Brooks, would like to welcome these new members and wish them the best In their volunteering endeavors. Jade Hitchens Kenda Gillespie A
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On December 12th a number of auxiliary volunteers said their goodbyes to Jim and Elda Sopha. They have been such a supportive couple and donated in excess of 18,000 volunteer hours over the years. Elda joined the auxiliary in 2000, and Jim, in 2002. Elda is a past President and Jim held a very active position on the committee which, in 2003, saw the opening of the Corner Café in Professional Building of the hospital Complex. We are all so fortunate to have known and worked with these two outstanding individuals. Their contribution to our auxiliary program and also to this community will never be forgotten. Thanks Jim and Elda for everything! 8
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DATES TO
REMEMBER
2015 Dates December 14 ‐ Auxiliary General Meeting and Potluck Lunch. This year we will be collecting for the food bank. 2016 Dates January 11 ‐ Auxiliary General Meeting February 8 ‐ Auxiliary General Meeting March 14 ‐ Auxiliary General Meeting April 11 ‐ Auxiliary General Meeting April 10th – 16th Volunteer Week May 9 ‐ AGM and luncheon meeting (starts at noon) June 13 ‐ Auxiliary General Meeting September 12 ‐ Auxiliary General Meeting October 3 ‐ Auxiliary General Meeting November 14 ‐ Auxiliary General Meeting December 12 ‐ Auxiliary General Meeting and Luncheon meeting (starts at noon) Euchre Dates January 9 February 13 March 12 April 9 May 14 September 10 October 15 November 12 CONTACT INFORMATION Mailing Address: Box 16, 1 Manor Lane, Bancroft, On K0L 1C0 Telephone: 613‐332‐2825 Ex 6201 Email: nhaux@qhc.on.ca 9