Wood’s Homes never gives up

Tragedy, at times, can be turned into triumph. The Wood’s Homes’ story is a shining example of same.

Wood’s Christian Home was founded in the Innisfail/ Olds area by Reverend George Wood, a Scottish Presbyterian minister who moved to Canada with his wife Elizabeth in 1907. They settled in Saskatchewan. In 1914, tragedy struck when his wife lit a lamp in their home with what she thought was kerosene. She had been sold gasoline by mistake. The lamp exploded, the house burst into flames. Anne, the couple’s threeyear-old daughter, was saved from the burning house by a passerby, but her mother perished.

This tragedy ultimately led to a life of caring and challenge. Escaping memories, George Wood moved to Alberta with his mother and young daughter. There, Wood was approached by a young soldier whose wife had also died. The soldier begged the minister to care for his two children because he had been called to serve. Reverend Wood agreed and some years later became these children’s guardian when their father was killed. More children eventually came to him, and Wood’s reputation grew as a caregiver for children whose parents were either deceased or financially unable to care for their children.

The rest is history. Thousands of children have come and gone through Wood’s Homes over the past 100-plus years. Thanks to the success of its annual Never Give Up Gala, which celebrated its 20th anniversary on Sept. 30, Wood’s Homes’ invaluable services will be offered for years to come.

More than 500 guests attended the gala which raised nearly $250,000. Emcee Nirmala Naidoo kept the evening moving along while auctioneer John Copithorne encouraged guests to bid on items like a private concert from Calgary native and rising Nashville star Lindsay Ell (so popular was this item, it sold twice).

In attendance were: event cochairs Lisa Fleck and Ellie Smith; Jay Westman, chairman and CEO of Jayman Homes; James Morton and Chad Van Norman, partners at Jarislowsky Fraser; Lee Rogers, president of Rogers Insurance; Tanya Causgrove, CFO and managing director of ARC Financial; Jane McCaig and her husband Rich Waller; and Renée Hopfner, director of Community Investment for Sobeys.

PHOTOS: WOOD’S HOMES From left, Amanda Pearson, Carly Dussault-Jensen, Nirmala Naidoo and Michelle Hiltermann at Wood’s Homes 20th anniversary Never Give Up Gala.

Be Tenacious sponsors from Surge Energy.

From left, Dan Dunlop, Wood’s Homes board chair; Gwen Becker, RBC Wealth Management; Kata Acheson, honorary gala chair; and Daniel Cheng, RBC Wealth Management.

From left, Cory Hopfner and his wife Renee Hopfner, Sobeys director of Community Investment; Wood’s Homes’ CEO Jane Matheson; Marc Gagnon, vice-president of national wholesale, and his wife Michelle Gagnon.

From left, Ellie Smith, co-chair of the event; Jane Matheson, CEO of Wood’s Homes; and Lisa Fleck, co-chair of the event.

Chad Hughes and Tanya Eklund.