Major fundraiser for a Sudbury hospice returns

Care-A-Thon raise money for Sudbury hospice Sudbury's Pure Country 91.7 partners with Maison McCulloch Hospice to raise money for end of life care & support with Care-A-Thon

An important fundraiser will be held Thursday in support of end-of-life care at the Maison McCulloch Hospice in Greater Sudbury.

Sudbury’s Pure Country 91.7 is partnering with Desjardins and the hospice for its fourth annual Care-A-Thon – the event will take play on the radio airwaves from 6 a.m. to noon.

Rolly Leduc is terminally ill with brain cancer.

Leduc has been at the hospice for the past five weeks and her family told CTV News they deeply value the care and support everyone is receiving.

“Doesn’t have to be like wired to machines and stuff like that at the hospital. Right now she is enjoying everything,” said Leduc’s daughter, Rachelle Marcotte.

“We can sing with her the nurses come in and joke around with her and stuff like that. So this place is like you can say a little bit of heaven.”

Marcotte said the family appreciates they can come anytime day or night and even sleep in their mom’s room.

Officials from the hospice confirm without community fundraising the doors could not stay open.

“The hospice sector in Ontario requires a fundraising element. We are only partially funded by the government in our case it’s 63%,” said Maison McCulloch Hospice executive director Julie Aubé.

“There is a commitment for more funding as the province realizes the specialized nature of this healthcare service and the great capacity it provides to our healthcare system locally but we still have that gap.”

To date during the previous three Care-A-Thons Pure Country has raised a total of $608,000.

“In the end this is going to help the hospice care for people right here in our own community,” said Josh Corbett, a Pure Country 91.7 morning host.

“It’s a great way to support local and to help people in what could be their final days weeks or whatever it may be. This is a very hard situation for a lot of families and this is a great opportunity to help them in any way that we can.”

At this time, the hospice is helping more than 200 families every year with end-of-life care at the residence. It also offers three other core programs to support families and their loved ones who are going through an end-of-life journey.

The goal for this year’s Care-A-Thon is to raise $100,000. That same goal was surpassed by $37,000 last year.

For more information on the event, visit the station’s Facebook page.

Both CTV News Northern Ontario & Pure Country 91.7 are divisions of Bell Media.