Woodstock hospice to receive generator thanks to several local Lions Club groups
By Mark Schadenberg
Thamesford,
Sweaburg, Innerkip, Drumbo, Ingersoll, Norwich, Woodstock and other
communities in Oxford County all share the ideals of the same service
club – the Lions Club.
I'm
a proud member of the Lions Club of Woodstock, which is a terrific
mix of men and women - young and not-so-young - living by the club's adage of 'We Serve'.
Sakura
House (www.vonsakurahouse.com;
519 537-8515), which in Oxford is part of the Victorian Order of
Nurses (VON) organization, also serves a very important role locally
as a residential palliative care hospice.
Six
area Lions Club are joining forces to pledge to raise more than
$80,000 to purchase a generator for the hospice located at the east
edge of Woodstock on Toyota property on Oxford County Road 4. When
Toyota (TMMC) accumulated its land in 2005 to build the manufacturing
facility now producing the RAV4, TMMC donated the luxury home (already
built, but has since had significant renovations) to the VON.
As
The Sentinel-Review story below points out, this combined Lions
project is the brainchild of Thamesford Lion Jack Broadfoot, whose
daughter and grandson have each spent time volunteering at Sakura
House. Because of that connection, Broadfoot has been given a unique
perspective of the facility.
The
Lions contribution this month toward the full goal was $20,000 – a collection
of donations delivered by clubs in Woodstock, Innerkip,
Thamesford and also the Oxford Lions Club.
Sakura
House opened on Sept. 1, 2009 and many capital projects and
fundraisers have raised considerable amounts of money for equipment,
furniture, and renovations to the donated home.
This
past spring, TMMC donated $350,000 to the home – monies directed to
the County of Oxford to fully pay off the remainder of a long-term
capital loan.
At
the time, John Goodbun, chair of the VON Oxford Community
Corporation, which led the capital campaign to create the hospice and
continues to raise funds to support its operations, said: “We are
truly humbled by Toyota’s leadership and support. Sakura House
would quite simply not exist without Toyota’s generosity and
commitment.”
However,
after about five years Sakura House – a non-profit organization –
still required an industrial generator for occasions when there was a
hydro outage. The Lions Club is now in the process of purchasing the
generator.
Definition:
From
www.vonsakurahouse.com
Sakura
(‘SAH-ku-ra’ or ‘sah-KUH-ra’), the Japanese word for cherry
blossom, symbolizes an annual spring celebration of the shifting
seasons. This powerful image evokes the bittersweet undercurrent of
past seasons and the fleeting nature of human existence. The cherry
blossom reminds us of the fragility and impermanence of life and
seemed the perfect symbol for our hospice.
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Links:
Facebook:
VONSakuraHouse
Twitter:
@VONSakuraHouse
Sentinel-Review Link:
Mark
Schadenberg, Sales
Representative
Senior
Real Estate Specialist (SRES designation)
Royal
LePage Triland Realty
757
Dundas St, Woodstock
www.wesellwoodstock.com
(519)
537-1553, cell or text
Email:
mschadenberg@rogers.com
Twitter:
markroyallepage
Facebook:
Mark Schadenberg, Royal LePage Triland
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