A local card maker has donated $1,200 to the Carman and Area Palliative Care program.
Since 2020, Val Wiebe has been handcrafting cards and selling them to raise funds for this important program, which offers support and respite for patients and their families in hospital settings and at home. Part of their programming includes providing baskets to families of patients in palliative care, containing essentials for their hospital stay, as well as maintaining and improving the palliative care rooms at Carman Memorial Hospital.
Carman and Area Palliative Care also invests in new equipment to enhance comfort and care for patients. Over the years, they have purchased special beds to prevent bedsores and skin breakdown, comfortable chairs, a portable ultrasound machine, among other items. The organization has been serving the community for 30 years, celebrating its anniversary this October.
Last week, Wiebe donated $1,200 to the Carman and Area Palliative Care program, which reflects her card sales and donations collected in 2024. Each card, crafted from scrapbook materials, is unique and sold for $2, though many customers choose to make additional donations to support the organization.
“All of our dollars are donated dollars so [these funds are] really important because we don’t get any funding from the government,” said Sandy Cameron, Carman and Area Palliative Care coordinator. “Every bit helps.”
Diane Davies also creates her own recycled cards in support of Carman and Area Palliative Care. She sells them for $1 on a table at Carman Memorial Hospital. To make her cards, Davies accepts both used and unused cards, plastic coverings, and envelopes, which can be dropped off at the hospital. She then repurposes these materials into beautiful, new cards.
Davies also mentioned that the organization is looking to upgrade and renovate the Carman Palliative Care Garden at Carman Memorial Hospital. Funds from card sales are likely to contribute to this effort. The garden, built and maintained by Carman and Area Palliative Care, is available for everyone at the hospital to enjoy. It features a variety of plants, benches, seating areas, a gazebo for sun protection, and pathways that weave through the greenery.
“It just needs a freshening up,” said Cameron.
So, Carman and Area Palliative Care is looking at doing some landscaping, replacing shrubs, trees, and plants, and doing brickwork in the garden to give it new life.
Carman and Area Palliative Care plans to do some landscaping, replace shrubs, trees, and plants, and undertake brickwork to revitalize the garden.
The organization is also reviving the soup and pie supper fundraiser this year, a long-standing annual event that was paused during the COVID-19 pandemic. On April 11, the Carman United Church hall will open its doors to the community, offering an array of soups and pies to raise funds for Carman and Area Palliative Care. This event promises a delicious meal, good company, and support for a worthy cause.
Everyone is welcome and encouraged to attend the fundraiser. Entry is by donation, and Cameron suggested that a reasonable donation would be around $15, the average cost of a meal. Both Wiebe and Davies will be selling their cards at the soup and pie supper, with all proceeds from the evening going back into the palliative care program.
According to the federal government, 58 percent of Canadians who died in 2021-2022 received palliative care, an increase from 52 percent in 2016-2017. Of those who received some form of palliative care, 61 percent received it in the hospital, while 36 percent received it at home.
