Hastings Co-op, a long-time supporter of Wauchope District Memorial Hospital, has launched a community fundraiser on behalf of palliative care patients.
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The local co-operative has organised a community raffle featuring more than $1,000 in prizes donated by local businesses in a bid to fund two recliner chairs for palliative care patients or visiting family members.
The raffle is being supported by the hardworking Wauchope Hospital Volunteers, who will sell tickets at the Wauchope IGA carpark on February 21, 27 and 28.
The volunteers will also man a barbecue stall on the three days in a bid to further boost the fundraising effort.
The recliner chairs are fully electric and will be purpose-bought for patients who have difficulty sleeping in a bed or for family members who do not want to leave their loved one’s side.
Hastings Co-op’s chief executive officer Allan Gordon said the co-operative had a long history of supporting worthy local causes, and Wauchope’s hospital was deservingly one of them.
“The hospital is an integral part of our community and so it is always a pleasure to be able to give back to the service as a way of saying ‘thank you’,” Mr Gordon said.
“On this occasion, we became aware that the Palliative Care Unit needed comfortable recliners for its seriously ill patients, and for visiting family members who spend many hours at the bedside of a loved one.
“Harvey Norman, Rydges, Cassegrain Wines and the Settlers Inn have joined forces with Hastings Co-op and the hospital volunteers to make this wish list item a reality.
“With the help of the community, we can hopefully raise enough to purchase two quality recliners…maybe three, which have been heavily discounted by Harvey Norman’s Furniture Franchise proprietor, Kerry Winn.”
Palliative Care Nurse Unit Manager Mary Trotter said she was grateful to Hastings Co-op for taking the initiative to address such an important patient-comfort need.
“We really are so very thankful for the support our patients receive from the community,” Ms Trotter said.
“Our team is dedicated to caring for our patients, and we are humbled by the community’s generosity in helping us to make our patients’ stay in hospital as comfortable as possible.”