The Tofield Health Centre Recreation Therapy Department held the second of three barbeque fundraisers this summer on Wednesday, July 31, to raise money for the Tofield Long Term Care residents’ recreation programming.
“We have the barbeque fundraisers every year, and we raise money to go towards the residents recreation therapy fund. It pays for entertainment, outings on the bus, if we need to buy flowers or garden boxes, if we want to splurge on new CD players, and all of our programming supplies,” said recreation therapist Nicole Kulba.
The first lunchtime barbeque was held June 19, and the next will be August 14. Each time Kulba says they prepare for about 140 people.
“Community members, staff, family, residents, they all participate, and it’s incredible, the amount of support. I mean, we went from selling 75 burgers my first couple years, and we’ve doubled that,” she said.
Kulba, Gina Hartman and Smiley Rana, recreation therapy assistants, volunteer coordinator Eli Myhovich from Mannville, and three volunteers were out in the sunshine Wednesday, collecting money, cooking burgers, frying onions, and handing out pop and chips outside the main doors of the Tofield Long Term Care Centre in the front courtyard.
The Eden Fund Barbeque Fundraiser is named after the philosophy that the Tofield Long Term Care Centre has been operating under for over 15 years. As found online, on the Wesley Mission Queensland website, the Eden philosophy of care is described as focusing on “eliminating loneliness, helplessness, and boredom from the lives of seniors living in aged care communities by creating opportunities, meaningful engagement, and spontaneity.”
“When people move from the community into the Long Term Care Centre,” Kulba said, “they’re not coming into a facility; they’re coming into a home that they are part of, all of the decision making processes, and we try to maintain their purpose, their values, and meaning every day,” she said.
Resident Council meetings are held every month, where uses for the collected funds are discussed.
“During Resident Council, which we hold once a month, we talk about all of the activities that we want to do, to use the money for, and we talk about the hamburger sales. That’s what the Eden Fund is, and we keep that money separate, and then the residents have a say in how that money is spent,” she said.
Kari Janzen
Staff Reporter
