The annual Hike for Hospice was held on Sunday, May 5th in both Olds and Didsbury.
Mary Marshall, Executive Director of the Olds & District Hospice Society says their goal for this year was to raise $25,000 dollars.
Her rough count had about 120 participants for the Town of Olds and approximately 30 people for the Town of Didsbury on Sunday and without the Didsbury numbers in yet, they were sitting at well over $33,000 dollars raised for hospice and palliative care in Mountain View County.
Marshall says they received an amazing donation from Sally Gascon from Olds who shaved off her hair for hospice and manage to raise over $6,000 dollars herself.
Marshall point out that they have three main program areas that the funds raised from the Hike for Hospice will support. She says “It’s our hospice support that includes two community hospice suites, with the potential of opening a third in Didsbury. Then we have our NAVcare program, and we have a volunteer driver program that supports people with chronic and terminal illness. We added on and enhanced that this year. Then we have our bereavement support programs, and we added on ‘Bridging with Bereavement’ that supports people in a one-on-one capacity.”
She adds, they are serving all of Mountain View County, which is why their members recently changed their name to the Mountain View Hospice Society.
