(Image Credit: CFJC News)

By Sydney Chisholm

Kamloops Hospice

Celebrate a Life raises funds for Kamloops Hospice, honours those who have passed

Dec 1, 2022 | 4:28 PM

KAMLOOPS — Volunteers from the Kamloops Hospice have set up shop at the Northhills Shopping Mall.

From Thursday until December 21, the Celebrate a Life event will be raising money for the local hospice while also honouring loved ones who have passed.

A variety of crafts made by volunteers over the course of the last year are available for purchase, with 100 per cent of the proceeds going to Kamloops Hospice.

“We have people from quilting groups, we have people that knit for us, create all kinds of different crafts for us,” Erin Gardner, executive director of Kamloops Hospice said.

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“Some of it’s done in our actual house – in the basement, and some people create the crafts at home and bring them to us just before this event so we can sell them.”

This year, the volunteers have a goal of raising $20,000 during the 20-day campaign.

According to Gardner, fundraising events like this one are crucial for the operation of the Kamloops Hospice. The executive director says about half of the care home’s funding is made up of fundraisers and donations, and the other half comes from Interior Health.

In addition to the selection of crafts for sale, people can make a donation and write the name of a loved one to celebrate their life on a paper tree ornament.

The papers are then hung on the tree, and a white light bulb is replaced with a red one in honour of the loved one.

“At the end of the year, all of these come off, and we do a burning ritual every year in February,” she told CFJC News. “All of these tags as well as tags of people who have passed in our hospice home are burned and then all of those ashes get put into our garden every year. It’s kind of a full circle event for us.”