Take a bow

The La Verendrye General Hospital Auxiliary deserves a hearty round of applause for fulfilling its $500,000 pledge to the local “Care Close to Home” fundraising campaign.
It took five years longer than initially planned but that fact this goal was achieved at all—given the tough economic climate of late, a time when fewer and fewer volunteers are shouldering the load, and regulation changes that put a crimp on lottery revenues—is a testament to the incredible efforts and dedication of the members.
In a nutshell, that’s a lot of sandwiches to make, squares to bake, quilts and crafts to create, and tickets to sell.
Coupled with the $100,000 raised for the first mammography machine here, plus an additional $400,000 to supply electric beds for the new St. Andrew’s Ward, the hospital auxiliary has topped $1 million over the past 25 years since it transformed from providing small equipment items and services to patients into the “world of high finance,” as new president Noreen Robertson put it during Saturday’s fall tea when the final instalment was presented to the Riverside Foundation for Health Care.
It is district residents, of course, who are attending the teas and buying the tickets so organizations like the hospital auxiliary can raise the necessary funds. And our community always has been generous when it comes to supporting local health care or other initiatives, such as building the Townshend Theatre, the Ice For Kids Arena, and the Fort Frances Public Library Technology Centre.
That generosity will need to continue in this day and age when locals have to help foot the bill for what they need or want. Fortunately, we have such wonderful members of the hospital auxiliary, as well as those for the local Legion and Rainycrest, along with all the various service clubs, to spearhead those drives.
They truly make our community a better place to live.