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Hospice House gets a new furnace

August 4, 2015

By Jim Eadie

“There are not too many dull moments around here,” said Choices Thrift and Gift Shop volunteer Reatta Fransky just prior to their presentation of $1500 to Hospice North Hastings to replace a worn-out furnace. Normally, when a furnace stops working, if you find a furnace repair provider they should be able to fix it. But sometimes, in cases such as this, they are so old that they need completely replacing. Understandably, this costs more.
Since 1991, the all-volunteer staff at Choices has raised nearly a quarter of a million dollars to support nonprofit health projects by selling donated gently used clothing. “We help people out in many ways,” said Fransky. By selling affordable clothing and accessories, the store promotes re-use and recycling while supporting local health. Fransky is one of 25 volunteers who through their dedication have made Choices the success that it is.
Even as an extreme heat alert was issued for what has been the hottest day of the summer so far on July 29, and one tiny AC whirred away in a corner of the store, fiveChoices volunteers and very appreciative staff and volunteers from Hospice North Hastings gathered to for the cheque presentation and to chat.
Installation of the needed new furnace is now nearly completed at Hospice House.
“Thank you so much,” said Heather Brough, program coordinator at Hospice House. “You have always been here for us!”
“And thanks to all the folks in the area who bring stuff in for us to sell,” said Fransky. “The cottagers too … bring their stuff in here from the city when they come.”
In addition to the money to replace the furnace, Choices Thrift and Gift Shop has over the past few years donated a total of $27,000 to Hospice North Hastings.
Hospice North Hastings provides a special way of caring for patients facing end of life decisions. Hospice is designed to improve a patient’s quality of life and help alleviate the family’s distress by providing efficient loving care, easing pain, and the overall emotional, spiritual, social and economic stress of the knowledge of impending death.
The local Hospice program is not government funded, being fully supported financially by the North Hastings community.