Healthcare Foundation reflects on fundraising success at AGM
The fundraising activities of the
Dr. Noble Irwin Regional Healthcare Foundation in support of quality healthcare services in southwest Saskatchewan were celebrated during the organization’s annual general meeting on May 7, which took place via video conference due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Healthcare Foundation celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2019 and a detailed commemorative annual report was produced to provide an overview of annual achievements and highlights since the organization’s establishment in 1999.
Board Chair Helen Arnold presented her report to the meeting. She said her participation on the volunteer board as a director, treasurer and now as chairperson has been very satisfying. She expressed her thanks to the Foundation staff on behalf of the board. “Without the outstanding work of the staff of the Foundation, southwest Saskatchewan would not have received all the benefits from their fundraising efforts over the last 20 years,” she noted. “Their dedication and commitment to keeping our local healthcare strong is unsurpassed.”
There have been several staff changes since the Foundation’s previous annual general meeting. Executive Director Clay Thompson retired at the end of 2019. The board appointed Jim Dekowny, who was the development and major gifts officer for the past six years, as the new executive director. Recently the board hired former television reporter and news anchor Carol Andrews as the Foundation’s new development officer and communications coordinator.
The Foundation undertook a significant fundraising effort, the Close to the Heart digital mammography campaign, during the past year.
The goal of this campaign is to raise $350,000 for the purchase of a new digital mammography machine for the Cypress Regional Hospital. Arnold referred to the different challenges to achieve this goal.
“The challenges presented in the last year in the agricultural and oil sectors of our economy made this larger dollar fundraiser a bit more challenging than previous campaigns we’ve undertaken,” she said. “As well, in 2020, additional challenges have presented themselves with the COVID-19 pandemic. However, despite that, our donors have been generous as usual and we thank all of southwest Saskatchewan for supporting the Foundation faithfully.”
She emphasized that the future success of the Foundation’s work will depend on the ongoing support of donors in the region.
“I encourage everyone to please think and talk about the Dr. Noble Irwin Regional Healthcare Foundation,” she said. “We know word of mouth is the best advertiser, especially when you’re considering philanthropy, whether supporting one of the Foundation’s fundraising events, just making a general donation, giving monthly by way of a payroll deduction, or by way of planned giving by bequest.”
Dekowny presented his first report as executive director at this meeting. He said 2019 was another busy year for the Foundation and several health facilities in the region benefitted from the purchase of capital equipment. The Foundation spent $189,444.67 on new medical equipment in different communities. Maple Creek received a vital sign monitor, wheelchairs, a stretcher bed and temporal thermometer. The equipment for Cypress Regional Hospital in Swift Current included a portable X-ray machine, an electrocardiogram machine, a slit lamp and ceiling lifts.
The Foundation provided funding for an ambulance bay in Leader as well as for several other equipment purchases for that community (hand rails, bio med fridge, bariatric bed). There were cardiac monitor upgrades for the ambulance services in Frontier and Val Marie. Other equipment purchases in 2019 were an acute care bed for Shaunavon, a Holter monitor for Herbert, a tub for Climax, and a wound care chair and tub room upgrade for Ponteix.
The Foundation was inducted into the
Swift Current & District Chamber of Commerce Business Hall of Fame at the 2019 SCBEX awards night. Dekowny said it was a humbling acknowledgement and a lasting tribute to the Foundation’s board members, staff, volunteers and donors who supported healthcare in southwest Saskatchewan over the years.
“So now, as we embark on our 21st year, the team at the Dr. Noble Irwin Regional Healthcare Foundation will strive to keep up our profile for people to try to keep it top of mind,” he mentioned. “We want to be the charity of choice in the southwest and our efforts will continue to strive to be the charity of choice throughout the southwest.”
Board Director Deb Unger presented the scholarship committee report to the meeting. The Foundation’s skills enrichment scholarship program (SESP) provides financial support to individuals training to be frontline healthcare workers in southwest Sask.
The scholarship committee recommended the disbursement of $44,228 to 52 applicants in 2019. The Foundation has provided over $500,000 in financial support to applicants through the SESP since 2001.
There were two guest speakers at the Foundation’s annual general meeting. Beth Vachon, the Saskatchewan Health Authority’s vice president of quality, safety and strategy, said the Foundation is a highly valued partner.
She referred to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the economy and its implications for healthcare foundations in the province.
“We’re hearing from our foundation partners across the province that the charity sector is not exempt,” she said.
“Fundraising in this environment will be a challenge and we’ll have to be respectful of our citizens’ and businesses’ abilities for philanthropy in the coming year and remember that we’re in this for the long term. Our partnership with the Noble Irwin Foundation is more important now than ever, and together we accomplished so much and we sincerely look forward to continuing to do so in the future.” Cypress Hills-Grasslands MP Jeremy Patzer expressed appreciation towards the Foundation for its work to support healthcare and he thanked all health workers for working on the frontlines during the pandemic.
“We’ve all been asked to do our part, for businesses to close down, for workers to stay home, vacations to be cancelled,” he said. “Every one of us has had to sacrifice a great deal to flatten the curve and prevent the spread of this virus. I cannot begin to express how proud I am of the resolve of the people of southwest Saskatchewan.”
Four individuals were nominated at the meeting to join the Foundation’s 2020-21 board of directors. The six current board members are Helen Arnold (board chair, Swift Current), George Cobb (secretary/treasurer, Swift Current), Max Kirkpatrick (Cabri), Leanne Tuntland-Wiebe (Swift Current), Nora Tinant (Swift Current), and Deb Unger (Rush Lake). New board members are Pam Busby (Leader), Sharon Dickie (Shaunavon), Amy Moen and Kirstin Rondeau (both from Swift Current).
Dekowny spoke to the Prairie Post after the meeting. He felt the relevant experience of the four new board members will be a real benefit to the board.
The Foundation has almost achieved the fundraising goal of the digital mammography campaign and is only about $15,000 short of the target of $350,000. He highlighted the support from the Hutterian colonies that recently raised another $15,000 for the campaign. This brought the total contribution of Hutterian colonies to about $120,000.
The Foundation is facing significant challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but it will continue to pursue the goal to raise funds for healthcare equipment in southwest Saskatchewan. “The main thing right now is just to keep going forward,” he said. “The donations are still trickling in and we have some very loyal and amazing people in the southwest that helps us yearly and daily. So it’s just going to be one of those things where we keep our head above water until this pandemic is over.”