Dinner of Hope
The 30th Dinner of Hope was held on Sunday, Dec. 8, 2024 night at the Herman Prior Activity Centre in Portage la Prairie, hosted by Sunset Palliative Care.
Fender Hill was the entertainment for the evening who played and sang Christmas-themed songs with a violin and mandolin to highlight the group
Executive Director Aldene Moroz shared her excitement about the success of the event.
“The weather didn’t stop anyone from coming. We did have a few cancellations — about six — but we still had over 250 attendees, plus 30 volunteers. It means so much to people. Some are attending for the first time since losing a loved one, while for others, it’s been as long as 30 years, and they’re still coming to the dinner. It’s growing, and we’re proud to do it for the community.”
This year, marking their 30th anniversary, Moroz highlighted that they sold out their SUV raffle draw 12 days ahead of schedule. It was the biggest prize they’ve ever offered in the raffle, and it felt particularly fitting for such a milestone year.
“We’re thrilled by how the community supported us. The funds we raise stay within the community. We’re using them to help furnish the new palliative care rooms. We want to make the family room comfortable for those who will be sitting there, as well as enhance the rooftop garden so people can enjoy it. Our goal is to have an entire area of the hospital dedicated to palliative care, which is so important. After 30 years, we’ve come so far, and it’s wonderful to celebrate this achievement tonight.”
Candles were lit as they were each year.
Cheryl Ronald, a volunteer with the organization for about five years, explained how her involvement began.
“I started out just helping with table settings and then took over the decorations in my third year. Now, this is my third year overseeing the project. Thirteen years ago, our family needed Sunset Palliative Care during a difficult time. I was so grateful for the care they provided, and I wanted to give back when I could. Now, I’m able to do that.”
Ronald emphasized her admiration for what Sunset Palliative Care stands for and the support they offer to people during challenging times.
“They provide such an amazing service for those facing tough news,” she said.
Some content from files at portageonline.com
30 Year Celebration Raffle
This year it isn't Santa making dreams come true, it's Sunset Palliative Care! Their 30-Year Celebration Raffle saw the people of Portage la Prairie and surrounding areas purchasing tickets for $25.00. With 3,000 tickets sold, everyone had an equal chance to win a brand new 2024 Chevrolet Equinox LS AWD from Craig Dunn Chevy Buick GMC. Aldene Moroz, the executive director of Sunset Palliative Care explains how the idea for the raffle came about.
"It was our 30th anniversary for Sunset Palliative Care serving Portage la Prairie and surrounding communities." Moroz said. "We really wanted to do something special this year and so on top of our normal fundraising that we have, which includes our sunshine raffle that's always held in June and our famous Rainbow auction that we hold in August, we decided we would do another fundraiser this year and that consisted of our SUV!"
Shortly after 2:00 Friday, Dec. 20, 2024, Moroz gave the large green raffle basket a good shake and Craig Dunn selected one name out of the 3,000 tickets.
Moroz got in touch the winning ticket holder, Alice Cosway who is a mother and bus driver for the Portage Aboriginal Head Start program. She was just finishing her grocery shopping nearby at Walmart when she answered the phone call. Walking through the door minutes later, Cosway was in disbelief.
"Are you guys joking?" Cosway asked through tears before running to hug her new Equinox.
Cosway was practically speechless. After a few minutes of letting the news settle in, she explained how she bought the ticket as a gift to herself for her birthday, just days before the draw. However, she never dreamed she would be the lucky winner.
"It's the very first time I've ever bought a ticket for something like this and I wanted to do it for my birthday,"
It was an exciting day for everyone inside the dealership with many being brought to tears, seeing how excited Cosway was for her new car. It was made even more special when Moroz explained how deserving this particular winner was.
"The lady that won it gave us a little bit of an insight into her that she actually walks some days, 45 minutes to work in this cold weather. It was a wonderful feeling to get a story like this. Alice, I know was very, very excited."
Cosway said the first place she would drive, was to her mother's house to show her the brand-new SUV!
As the commotion quieted, Moroz explained more about Sunset Palliative Care and how donations such as these help to keep their services running, especially for those in the community who need it most.
"The donations help out with us. We run three bereavement groups a year. We also run a memory garden over in the beautiful Island Park, so we take care of that. We also take care of gas for our volunteers if they need to go out and visit somebody staying into Oakville or the surrounding communities. We also pay for the conference in September. We sent 29 people this year, it was a record number to the two-day provincial conference. It also keeps our doors open and that's a very important service that we do need to keep going after 30 years. We do not want to see our doors closed. So, this is the only way we can keep everything going is by fundraising and of course, donations."
With the success of this fundraiser barely behind them, Moroz explained the hopes for a similar fundraiser in the future.
"We've had many people asking us, 'please do it again next year'. So, it's something that us, as a board, will have to decide if we should do it or not. We're probably leaning towards it because for us, as well as many other people, donations are down this year by about 65% as of today, so we really needed this to keep us going."
As Christmas and the new year quickly approaches, Moroz explained how the fundraiser was the perfect way to end the year.
"It couldn't have ended the year on a better note. We really want to thank the community and the surrounding area for supporting these tickets and helping out our volunteers when they do go and approach people about buying tickets. It's very important and I don't think people realize how much it means to our organization that we do have the people and the wonderful community on board."
Congratulations to our Christmas basket winners — Stephen Williams, Janet Cuthbert, Evan Wise and Travis Foster. Winner of the $50 Sobeys gift card is Tracy Stewart. Thank you to everyone who participated in this raffle!
Some content from files at portageonline.com
Memory Garden
Sunset Palliative Care has a beautiful Memory Garden across from the playground on scenic Island Park, which is open to the public to meditate, or simply relax and enjoy the beautiful surroundings. There is a monument in which you can add in memory names, and comfortable benches to sit on. For more information contact us at info@sunsetpalliativecare.org