The New West Hospice Society is shining a light on loss at its first ever fundraiser.
In honour of World Hospice Palliative Care Day, the society is holding the River Walk for Hospice fundraiser on Saturday, Oct. 14 from 6 to 8 p.m. at Westminster Quay.
New West resident Mike Folka and his family will be among those taking part in the fundraiser. A number of his family members, including grandparents and an aunt, have passed away in recent years and found palliative and hospice care to be an important part of their end-of-life support.
“I actually have an uncle that is currently receiving palliative care at a local hospice because of a recent diagnosis of terminal brain cancer, so at this moment it hits particularly close to home,” he said in an email to the Record.“I’m also not one that naturally feels comfortable dealing with the subjects of death and dying and grief. So for that reason I understand in a very personal and selfish way why New West Hospice Society’s mission of normalizing death and grieving is such an important one both for our community and for myself. We’d like to do our small part to help them succeed in that mission and to walk in honour of our loved ones.”
Founded in 2016, the New West Hospice Society is striving to build a grassroots hospice initiative that’s based on the Compassionate City model. It also wants to acknowledge that dying, death and grief are part of life.
“It is going to be a fun event,” said Kay Johnson, one of the society’s founders. “That is one of the things that we are trying to do, in normalizing all this difficult stuff that people don’t talk about, we want to make this a real family-friendly event so families do feel comfortable coming, enjoying themselves and supporting it.”
River Walk for Hospice includes entertainment, prizes for best costume (with a lantern), snacks and a walk from the tin soldier to the Wow Westminster public art in Westminster Pier Park where folks can walk in memory of a loved one. Participants are encouraged to bring a lantern or flashlight to the walk which gets underway at 6:30 p.m., or make a lantern at anArtsToGo lantern-making workshop taking place at River Market from 4:30 to 6 p.m.
“It’s deliberate that we said, ‘shine a light on the River Walk for Hospice,’ just to reveal that there are so many different kinds of losses,” Johnson said. “One of the things we are encouraging is people who have lost a pet, which also can be a member of the family and can have a significant impact on the family, to come in and walk in honour of them. There will be some type of activity at the W to acknowledge and name the losses that people have had. We will be asking people to come, bring a photo or memento of the person or pet or somebody important to them.”
Attendees will be able to get information about home care at end-of-life, advance care planning and a loss support walking group. Parents will be able to get information about talking to their kids about difficult topics such as the difference between a funeral and a memorial and what happens at a funeral.
People of all ages are invited to attend the family-friendly event and get pledges for the walk. The person who collects the most money in pledges will get a prize not normally given out at most fundraisers – a will for two.
For more information or to sign up for the walk, go to www.newwesthospice.ca.
