Light the way for others by pledging R50 a month to Hospice
Hospice is solely reliant on donations and it raises all of its own funds.
Hospice White River is a highly-valued charity in the local community, making a real difference in the lives of patients and their families. The organisation, like many other non-profit organisations at the moment, is experiencing financial difficulties, and Hospice White River is making an urgent appeal to the community to donate funds.
At any one time hospice may have up to 35 patients in their care and each patient costs the organisation approximately R2 500 per month. “There is a misconception that it is part of a large national body, but this is not so,” said Andrea Matthews.
Hospice is solely reliant on donations and it raises all of its own funds. “We were privileged to receive funding from the National Lottery Commission, but it appears likely we will not receive the funds this year, which places us in a crisis,” she says.
In a market already saturated with fund-raising events, Hospice White River has chosen to focus on an initiative that is affordable for people to support and which asks little of them in the practical sense.
This campaign is known as the Candle of Compassion campaign, in which they invite people to pledge R50 per month to hospice on an ongoing basis. This will help the organisation to continue with its valuable work with patients facing the challenges of life-threatening illness.
“Should we have 500 donors of R50 per month, we would be well on the way to covering a large portion of our monthly expenses – currently R75 000,” she reckoned. “This will enable us to continue doing our valuable work in the community. So far we have approximately 80 pledges per month and we are immensely grateful to every one of these donors.”
They also encourage local businesses to support this initiative and with larger donations if they are able to do so.
To make a R50 pledge people can set up a direct debit or a recurring monthly payment to hospice. “We do ask that all donors inform us of their donation for two reasons: firstly so we can thank them, and secondly so that we can post them a tax receipt, should they request one. We suggest that people set up a recurring Internet payment as that is the easiest way to make a regular monthly payment,” Matthews advised.
Hospice White River provides professional palliative care to patients of any age, religion and race within the White River community. This care involves professional nursing care, including symptom and pain management, as well as emotional and spiritual support which are tailored to the patient’s needs and wishes. Support is provided to the patient’s loved ones as well. At the centre of hospice and palliative care is the belief that each of us has the right to die pain-free and with dignity, and that family members and carers will receive the necessary support to allow us to do so. Hospice focuses on providing loving care usually within the patient’s home.
“When a patient calls on us they pay an initial first assessment fee of R350, if affordable, and thereafter our service relies on donations affordable by the family. To be able to provide professional nursing, as well as background administrative support, we require a sizable income and we are entirely reliant on donations,” explained Matthews.
Enquiries: 013-750-3044 or whiteriverhospice@tiscali.co.za
Banking details: Hospice White River,
FNB White River
Branch Code: 270 552,
Cheque account: 6202 566 8304.
