Hike for Hospice returning to Port Perry in early June

DAN CEARNS The Standard

SCUGOG: Oak Ridges Hospice of Durham will be holding its seventh annual Hike for Hospice next month.

The event is scheduled to be held on Sunday, June 2nd. At a meeting on Monday, May 6th, Lindsay Healey from Oak Ridges Hospice made a presentation to Scugog councillors about the Hospice and the event.

Oak Ridges Hospice is a 10-bed facility in Port Perry and takes care of people “with life-limiting illnesses who come to the hospice in their last weeks or days of life,” Ms. Healey explained.

“We look after their families with emotional and spiritual support, as well as nutritional support with soups, sandwiches, baked sweets and [a] bottomless pot of coffee,” she added.

The facility has about 30 medical and administrative staff and over 120 volunteers. Volunteers come from the North Durham communities of Scugog, Uxbridge and Brock Township.

“A palliative care bed in a hospital is twice the price as a bed at Oak Ridges [Hospice], yet the government only funds about half of our operating costs,” Ms. Healey explained.

The Hike for Hospice will begin in Palmer Park, and participants can choose a one kilometre or five kilometre route. Registration for the event will begin at 9 a.m.

“The more people we can have joining us for that experience, the better,” Ms. Healey stated. “It’s a happy day. We entertain the kids; we sign banners, enter raffles, and we remember.”

She also noted the event is a good way to get some exercise in, and there is live music and a barbecue. The event annually raises about $100,000 for the organization.

For more information, go online to www.oakridgeshospice.com.