By Cecilia Nasmith
The Rotary Club of Northumberland Sunrise has announced a $150,000 commitment toward building Ed's House.
The announcement of this five-year commitment came at a recent special event, a strong show of support for the Honouring the Journey campaign to ensure that the Northumberland Hospice Care Centre will be around for families in the future.
The club has already spearheaded the dry stone wall gardens at the Northumberland Hills Hospital entrance, the press release said, and supported more than 50 other community and international projects. The release termed the Ed's House project critically important to providing quality end-of-life care for individuals and their families.
Ed's House (as it is called, in honour of Ed and Diane Lorenz) is planned as a two-level facility located at Hamilton Township, at the crossroads of Ontario Street and Oliver's Lane. It will be a 10-bed hospice, with six operational and four future suites.
The focus will be on patient care, as well as outreach and education.
It will offer all hospice services currently provided by Community Care Northumberland (the lead agency on the project), along with providing around-the-clock palliative care at no cost to the residents or their families.
The Honouring the Journey campaign announced a goal of $9.3-million in June in order to build the facility. Campaign co-chairs Gord and Patti Ley expressed their gratitude for the Sunrise Rotary club's generous boost, noting that it was $50,000 more than the club's original goal.
Over the next five years, the club will direct proceeds from key fundraisers to support their Ed's House commitment, starting with this month's Scotch Tasting Night and including their Men Who Cook/Women Who Sizzle in March and their Rotary Golf Tournament in May.
The club meets Wednesdays at 7 a.m. at Ashbrook Golf Club, and welcomes guests and new members.
