The Desert Valley Hospice Society will be holding its annual Hike for Hospice fundraising event in both Oliver and Osoyoos for the first time. The walks take place on May 3. Those planning on participating can sign up now and start raising pledges. This photo was taken at last year’s event. (Lyonel Doherty file photo)
For the first time in its history, the Desert Valley Hospice Society separate Hike for Hospice fundraising events in both Osoyoos and Oliver.
This year’s event – along with hundreds of other Hike for Hospice fundraisers across Canada – will take place on Sunday, May 3.
The Hike for Hospice in Osoyoos in Osoyoos will begin near the irrigation canal walkway adjacent to Osoyoos Secondary School at noon, while the hike in Oliver will also begin at noon in Lions Park.
“We have great support in both communities and thought there would be sufficient interest and support to hold separate events in both Osoyoos and Oliver,” said Janet Shaw, president of the Desert Valley Hospice Society.
All participants in both events will be asked to gather pledges to raise money and those who don’t get pledges will be asked to donate $10, said Shaw.
All of the money raised through the Hike for Hospice will go towards programs and services offered by the large group of volunteers involved with the hospice society, said Shaw.
A big focus for the local hospice society in the coming months will be to encourage local residents to properly prepare for end of life care, said Shaw.
“The facts are that most Canadians want to spend their final days at home being cared for by loved ones, but the reality is more than 70 per cent will end up in hospital or acute care facilities,” she said. “We want people to be fully prepared and know what they want to happen near the end of their lives.”
In keeping with this theme, the hospice society has invited guest speaker Cathie Borrie to be their special guest speaker on Thursday, April 16 at the community theatre at Osoyoos Secondary School.
Borrie is a well-known author and public speaker who penned the best-selling book called The Long Hello: Memory, my Mother and Me, which is a stirring memoir of a daughter caring for a mother who suffered from dementia.
The Long Hello explores the emotional rewards and challenges that Borrie experienced while caring for her mother, who was living with Alzheimer’s disease, for seven years.
Borrie illuminates childhood memories of her family and her struggles to maintain a quality of life outside of her caregiving responsibilities.
The hospice society will be promoting advance care planning as one of the most important programs it offers to the community, said Shaw.
“Advance care planning is one of the greatest gifts you can give to your family,” she said. “The reality is we all die and we all have a responsibility to have our loved ones clearly recognize and understand our wishes and beliefs specifically related to the end of their lives.”
Advance care planning includes everything from funeral and memorial wishes, to clearly planning the sharing of financial and property assets and what you want done in terms of medical care when you become terminally ill, said Shaw.
“This advance planning becomes a guide in case you can no longer communicate yourself,” she said. “For the longest time, people couldn’t talk about preparing for the fact that we’re all going to die, but thankfully that attitude is changing and the hospice society can’t stress enough how important it is for people to take the steps to prepare for those final days near the end of their life.
The Desert Valley Hospice Society’s new supportive care centre, which opened last summer at 22 Janagold Drive in Osoyoos, has allowed the society to expand its programs and services with great response from citizens in Osoyoos and Oliver, said Shaw.
While the long-term goal to provide actual hospice beds for those approaching the end of their lives, having a permanent home has allowed the society to increase education and training for hospice volunteers, allowed for a meeting space for the board and volunteers and improved program development and delivery, said Shaw.
Tickets for Borrie’s visit are on sale at Imperial Office Pro in Osoyoos and Beyond Bliss in Oliver. You can call the supportive care centre at 250-495-1590. For more information about the hike for hospice event can go online to www.hikeforhospice.com.
KEITH LACEY
Osoyoos Times
