The Ruby Slipper Fund is celebrating its first anniversary of providing support to the Sunshine Coast Palliative Care Program and the families it serves.
Fundraising and donations during their first year totaled more than $25,000. As a result they have been able to purchase equipment needed by the Palliative Care team, such as a ROHO mattress. These mattresses are special air mattresses used by patents who are at risk for skin breakdown, such as palliative care patients. Not only do they provide an increased level of comfort, but a physical benefit as well by protecting the skin from resulting pressure sores.
The Ruby Slipper Fund also covered expenses incurred by patients undergoing chemo and radiation and the cost of medication and other services not covered by their extended health plans.
"Our goal is to try to ease the financial strain experienced by patients already undergoing an incredibly stressful time," said Ruby Slipper Fund co-ordinator Brenda Rowe. "Our friend Patsy Rothenbush, for whom the fund was founded, experienced that sort of support from this community. That's why it was her wish to have this fund up and running. It was her way of giving back to the community that had been so good to her.
"We had many discussions about the fund before she died in the summer of 2009. She had a clear vision of what she would like to see funded, and that is what we are trying to carry out on her behalf."
For that reason the Ruby Slipper Fund funded a course on living through loss to Hospice volunteers last fall. The hope is that those volunteers will now go forth and form support groups up and down the Coast for those who have lost loved ones.
"It became clear pretty early on in her illness that there was a real lack of counselling available to families free of charge," Rowe added. "We are hoping to make a dent in that."
The Ruby Slipper Fund continues to work towards its goals through fundraising events and just plain old small town word of mouth.
The next event is the annual Shoe and Purse Auction on March 3 the Blue Heron. This event raised more than $3,000 last year and involved a ladies' night with more than 100 pairs of shoes on the auction block. Tickets are $10, available at The Daily Roast.
For comment or more information about the Ruby Slipper Fund, please visit our Facebook page or call Brenda 604-740-7834, Carolyn at 604-740-6225 or Sandie at 604-989-4345.
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