By Don Urquhart, Times Chronicle
As Canadians across the country struggle with the rising cost of living the Highway to Healing Support Society is appealing for donations on the back of rising demand for its services in the South Okanagan.
The South Okanagan-based non-profit society and registered charity has a mission to assist families in local communities by providing financial support and resources when they must travel to access medical care for their ill or injured child.
Formed in 2013 as a community project of the Rotary Club of Oliver as the club became aware that families had no financial support with travel expenses when they had to travel for care.
In it’s decade of helping families in need it’s seen continuous growth in demand with last year the society helping more families than ever. Since its inception Highway to Healing has assisted 57 unique families on over 240 occasions in the amount of $203,874.
“Word is getting out and the need from families is not slowing down, in fact it’s growing,” Tracy McFadden President of Highway to Healing Society told the Times Chronicle at its stall at the Oliver’s Station Street Market on Sunday (July 7).
“I think, with costs increasing for families, just for things like fuel and food, definitely the help is needed as much, if not more, than ever,” McFadden said. “And that’s probably not going to slow down anytime soon, we’re not anticipating it slowing down. Of course, we wish there was no need at all,” she added.
The need has grown substantially, especially in the past four years adds Gina Patterson, Treasurer/Director who notes that between 2013 and 2020 the average annual assistance amounted to just over $8,000.
But from that point on the demand jumped considerably to $27,322 in 2021, $21,481 in 2022, $59,799 in 2023 and $30,459 year to date in 2024.
“The increase in these numbers can be attributed to a few factors including skyrocketing costs and more families becoming aware of our organization,” Patterson added.
Most of their assistance involves helping families get to Kelowna, Kamloops and the Lower Mainland. This includes fuel costs, parking, and hotel if families need accommodation. McFadden notes that often families can avail themselves of assistance for accommodation from groups like the Easter Seals and Ronald McDonald House.
“But even those come with a per diem cost so we will cover the per diem as well,” she said. And costs also cover the whole family, for instance a sibling that is not traveling for medical attention but cannot stay alone, is also covered.
The society operates on a very lean administrative budget with only three per cent of donations going to the overhead of running the organization. Directors also take no form of compensation for their work.
“When families ask for funding and they qualify for funding we have very a limited amount of paperwork that is required and we do everything we can to get funds to them within 24 hours. We’re very proud of that and we work really hard to make that happen.”
The qualifications are straight forward – they must be living in Osoyoos, Oliver or Okanagan Falls, and a child under the age of 19 that is traveling.
Currently the society is running its second annual fundraising raffle with a cap of 1,000 tickets at $20 each for three prizes covering wine, food, lake and race track adventures. These are courtesy of generous donations by Spirit Ridge, Burrowing Owl, Wake Pilot and Area 27.
“So many more families are learning about us and reaching out to us and the need is so huge right now and obviously there are a lot of organizations out there that need support too and we’re grateful for the support we’ve received from the business community and individuals,” said Brock Jackson, Director on the board of Highway to Healing Society.
Donations can be made by e-transfer to [email protected] (add name and email in the message field), and can also be made utilizing Canada Helps and PayPal.
