Minden Health Care Auxiliary celebrates 20 years 

 

Twenty
years ago, Gordon Monk mentioned to his wife Donna that Minden’s new
hospital would have space for a gift shop, and perhaps she could think
about organizing an auxiliary to help make it run in support of health
services.

 

“I was just ripe for the plucking,” laughs Donna, as she
remembers back to having been newly retired from a busy life in the
funeral industry.

 

She agreed to think about Gordon’s suggestion, met
with five friends in August, and just weeks later on the first of
September in 2000, was ready for the gift shop’s opening alongside those
friends and about 10 to 15 of their friends, ready to work as the
Minden Health Care Auxiliary.
“I’m afraid it was largely by the seat
of our pants, because we didn’t have very much time to think about it,
as you can imagine,” said Monk. “We put it together in August and it
started Sept. 1 … everything opened on September the first, and we did
too. Each of [the six original members] donated $500 to kickstart our
auxiliary, so we kind of went out and tried to find people who did
handiwork, and that type of thing, and then we went to hardware stores
to see what we could scrounge there, and we managed to put together not
too bad a showing. But we of course eventually just kept adding to it.”

 

While the auxiliary worked to be ready to move in, the gift shop itself was not as ready as they were.
“So
as you can likely imagine, there was some scrambling done to try and
put this together, on top of which, the day of – that morning – we had
some trouble getting in there, because the carpenters were doing some
finishing up,” said Monk. And then, laughing at the memory: “It was
flying by the seat of our pants, believe me.”  

 

This year marks the
20th anniversary of the Minden Health Care Auxiliary, built on the quick
efforts of Monk and fellow founding members Corinne Arsenault, Norma
Nobles, Fern Donnelly, Katie Parker and Bonnie Fleischaker, and building
over two decades, with about 50 members now, many of whom have
dedicated themselves to the auxiliary for almost two decades.

 

“Of
course, a number of the originals are no longer with us, so we do have
quite a few newer members, a lot of whom are, I think, likely original
cottagers but have come up to live,” said Monk.
You’ve seen the
results of their efforts – of the gift shop, bowlathons, galas, teas,
card parties, bake sales, theatre performances, tag days, Christmas
sales, and of course, the wheelbarrow filled with 48 bottles of wine
raffle – in the form of equipment and furnishings for long-term care
lounges, upgraded lighting and mattresses in the emergency room, a
bariatric scale and i-Stat Blood Analyser, a bone density machine: more
than can be acknowledged with placards noting the group’s efforts. The
galas – about seven held between 2010 and 2017, raised about $10,000
each. The group raised $40,000 for a medication dispensing unit at the
Minden hospital.

 

“The government gives money periodically to health
services for various things, but not for some of the smaller things,
which are a comfort to, I’d like to think, not only our doctors … but
also people coming into the hospital,” said Monk. “We now have a bone
density machine for instance, because up until that time, up until
recently, we had to go to Lindsay or Peterborough for that. There are a
number of things like that that we’ve managed to bring here so people
are able to access that within the community, which we feel is very
helpful and very important.”

 

Everyone in the community has used the
services of the hospital or long-term care centres, or knows someone who
has – “it touches people at some point in their lives,” said Monk – and
she said the auxiliary has appreciated the community’s support, whether
that be through buying raffle tickets, making gift shop purchases or
making donations – both financial donations as well as in the form of
supplies for the gift shop.

 

“People have donated things they have
very kindly made, spent their time and money to purchase materials, made
them and donated them to us, so we’ve been very fortunate with that,”
said Monk, listing knit baby clothes and blankets, quilts, even baked
goods. “People were just super about saying, here, this is for the shop,
this is for you. We felt so fortunate that people did this. Again, part
of our very giving community, I find.”

 

Carolyn Plummer, CAO of
Haliburton Highlands Health Services, congratulated the Minden Health
Care Auxiliary on the upcoming milestone anniversary, and said that on
behalf of HHHS, she appreciated the efforts put forth every day by the
auxiliary, recognizing “the unique and invaluable contribution that they
make to improving our local health-care system.”
Plummer said the
overall contribution of the auxiliary is pivotol in helping HHHS improve
the experience for patients, clients, residents and those who care for
them, and besides the group’s fundraising efforts made particular note
of direct support offered by the auxiliary for patients, clients and
residents, as well as visitors.

 

“Auxiliary members are often the
first faces that people see when they enter our facilities, and they
always have a warm, welcoming smile and words of support that help to
ease suffering and brighten everyone’s day,” said Plummer.
Monk said
there is much to be proud of, including the 2012 Warden’s Award shared
with the Haliburton Auxiliary, as the Minden Health Care Auxiliary
prepares to celebrate 20 years of service, but most cherished the
community effort of the group.  
“I would have to go back to the
friends I’ve made, and the connections I’ve made, and the fact that,
when we needed them, so many of the community, and all of our friends,
came together to make sure this thing worked,” said Monk. “I’m very
proud of that fact and very, very appreciative of it, because without
them, it would not have worked.”

 

While the gift shop is currently
closed and fundraising efforts on hold due to the current safety
measures in place because of the novel coronavirus pandemic, donations
to the Minden Health Care Auxiliary can be e-transferred to mindenhca@gmail.com.