From adopting a hop vine to cheering on professional wrestlers, local businesses are finding creative ways to raise money for Chatham-Kent Hospice while highlighting the community’s longstanding support for end-of-life care. Red Barn Brewing near Blenheim has launched its first-ever ‘Adopt-a-Hop’ fundraiser, inviting customers to donate a minimum of $25 to sponsor one of the brewery’s 180 hop vines and watch it race to the top throughout the growing season. “The idea is customers can come in, donate a minimum $25, and they get to go through the hop yard and pick whichever hop they think will be the quickest to the top,” said Sandy Vervaet, co-owner of Red Barn Brewing. “It’s just raising money for a great cause. It’s just a little fun competition.” Vervaet says the concept had been on her mind for years before becoming reality. “Every year when I’m training them and weeding the hop yard, I’ve thought of it and it’s just never been implemented,” she said. “Then I messaged an old friend of mine that works at the hospice and mentioned it to her. She loved the idea and had a poster already ready, and I was like, ‘Well, I guess we’re doing it this year.’” Although the fundraiser was introduced only a week ago, Vervaet says community support has already exceeded expectations. “They’ve usually donated more than the minimum $25, so we’ve raised quite a bit so far,” she said, adding one supporter from Quebec even asked the brewery to select a hop on their behalf before visiting later this summer. Not far away, another brewery is preparing to host a different kind of fundraiser. Sons of Kent Brewing in Chatham will welcome Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling for ‘Headlocks for Hospice’ on July 24, combining live wrestling with a fundraising effort benefiting the hospice. “This one’s kind of fun,” said Sons of Kent co-owner Doug Hunter. “We’ve been talking about doing this for quite some time, having some wrestling here. It just kind of worked out that we got Headlocks for Hospice coming.” Hunter said supporting the hospice was a natural fit. “Our friends are just down the street at the hospice. Great charity. We donate quite a bit to the hospice when we can, and it just kind of came together,” he added. He expects a large turnout for the event. “We want people to come and enjoy themselves, enjoy the wrestling, enjoy some cold beverages, some good food, some laughs, and also the donation to the hospice,” Hunter said. The fundraiser also brings together the two professional worlds of Jay Smith, Chatham-Kent Hospice Foundation’s fundraising manager and a referee with Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling. “I’ve been waiting for the day my two worlds would collide here,” Smith said. “Sons of Kent actually approached us on this one. I have not been trying to force these two worlds to collide. It came together organically.” Smith says the event reflects the strong support hospice receives throughout the municipality. “We’re very lucky at Chatham-Kent Hospice and in Chatham-Kent to have all of this community support,” he said. “This is one of so many local events that are run by volunteers and community members in support of Chatham-Kent Hospice that we really reap the benefits of. If we didn’t have that support, quite frankly, we wouldn’t have Chatham-Kent Hospice.” Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling President Scott D’Amore says the event is an opportunity to bring live entertainment to Chatham while supporting a cause that affects many families. “Hospice is something that you don’t realize how important and how valuable and how special hospice is until unfortunately you have to deal with it yourself or with somebody that you care deeply about,” D’Amore said. “Raising funds and awareness and trying to have a good time doing it are all key to supporting great community activities.” According to Chatham-Kent Hospice Foundation Executive Director Brock McGregor, nearly 50 community-run fundraising events have been held over the past year in support of hospice services. “I think that really reflects the connection that the community has to the organization,” McGregor said. “All the families are so diverse and have different stories when they have that connection to hospice, and often the events they choose to run in support of hospice are really diverse and reflect that uniqueness.” Those community events generated nearly $400,000 last year, representing a significant contribution toward the roughly $2.5 million to $2.7 million required annually to operate residential hospice programs and community supportive care services. “Those third-party fundraisers, those community fundraisers, are so important to operations,” McGregor explained. If supporters choose to back a climbing hop vine or a wrestling spectacle, organizers say the message is the same: creative community partnerships continue to play a vital role in ensuring hospice care remains available for local families.
