JOHN THE EVANGELIST COUNCIL, No. 4555
Woodslee, Ontario N0R 1V0
Community Impact Story – March 2021
The story below accompanied the Thank You note that we received for our recent donation. It’s stories like this that are at the heart of everything the Knights of Columbus stand for and without the funds we receive from our partnership with Power Play Gaming Center, we could help out to the extent that we able to.
A recent note from our local Windsor hospice
First and foremost, I want to thank you and your fellow Knights for all the support you have shown our Hospice over the years – it truly means the world to our patients and their families.
I wanted to provide some insight into our Hospice during the pandemic, and highlight what your donations have supported for our local patients and families:
- Our Hospice has remained operational and are busier than ever throughout COVID.
- We have not shut down or paused at all.
- Our Residential Homes (the buildings on site that patients go into for end-of-life care) have been full, and we have done our best to safely work within visitor restrictions by getting creative. As an example, each patient room has a door that leads right to a personal patio. We’ve used these doors to allow more visitors to be close, but safely outside. As an example, if these patients were on the third floor of a hospital, they wouldn’t be able to see visitors inside OR on the patio like we can offer. These visits are extremely important at end of life.
- I will note, your donations in past have directly supported our patients and families in this home and have covered over 45 nights of care for our community!
- Our “In Home” program that sends doctors and nurses to care for patients in their own home has grown exponentially. To give you an idea of this growth, normally our doctors and nurses would be caring for about 160 patients at any given time. Due to patients wanting to stay home and be close to their family (as visitor restricts are in place in long-term-care, at Hospitals, etc.), we are now, at any given time, taking care of an average of 260 patients in their own home – a 60%+ increase! We have done this without impacting patient care – no longer wait times, and the same level of care, just too many more people.
- If you were to make a donation, it would likely be in support of this program – keeping families close, offering care in their own home, and helping them avoid visitor restrictions as they navigate their end-of-life journey.
- Throughout all the changes, our team has remained resilient, ensuring the patient is at the center of our focus and decision making. We have started doing virtual visits where it makes sense, changed protocols, and added many safety measures. Of course, it has been tough at times, as it has for our entire community, but we truly do have an amazing and very focused team.
On behalf of the membership of KofC council 455, we genuinely thank the OLG and Management of Power Play Gaming Center for providing us with a means to help the needy in our community.
Yours Truly,
Leo-Paul Campeau
K of C Council 4555 – Treasurer