Press Release
After what seemed like interminable delays to address a minor mountain of regulations, construction finally got underway Sept. 4 with Bob Miller starting the excavation.
Much of the initial foundation work was completed by Friday (Sept. 7) by John Sinninghe Construction, the successful bidder on the tendered project.
The fundraising sub-committee, meanwhile, met this past Thursday (Sept. 6) to step up its campaign to raise the balance of the funds needed to complete the project.
To date, donations and pledges have exceeded $160,000.
This does not include the $100,000 put up by the partnering municipalities (Lake of the Woods Township, Dawson Township, Big Grassy First Nation, and the Town of Rainy River) that was used to purchase the three lots—for both the locum house and student housing, and a lot to use as a future incentive for permanent physician recruitment if and when required.
The goal of the fundraising committee is to raise another $190,000 to ensure we have the capital requirements to complete and then furnish Rainy River Locum House.
Rental fees for the unit paid by visiting medical personnel will defray any operating costs and build a cushion for the future.
There has been some grumbling about this investment in our communities’ future but Caroline Kreger, who will be co-chairing the fundraising committee, put it best when she stated, “Without strong medical service in our community, we are dead!”
“No doctors means no hospital,” she stressed. “It means no jobs and no businesses. People would certainly not want to move here and many would leave.
“It would be the end of our community. So it is vital that every one steps up and does their part,” Kreger added.
Many fundraising activities like the community suppers of the past, the penny drive, and raffles will continue.
In addition, teams of volunteers will be canvassing our communities asking for your individual financial support. Many have been very generous so far with pledges, donations, and in memoriam gifts.
We are asking the rest of you to step forward and be counted.
Remember, all contributions are tax-deductible and can make a very real dent in your income tax bill.
If we had not decided to fund the Rainy River Locum House through donations, our other option would have been to place funding on the municipalities’ shoulders through a tax levy.
Such a levy may not be tax-deductible.
So, again, we acknowledge and thank all those who are financially supporting this project and we urge the rest of you to lend your financial support to this project.
Our joint futures depend on it.
