Malcolm Jenkins presents Marina Mitchell of the Rose Garden Hospice with a cheque for $75,850. From left, Roxanne Dicke of Broadway North, Marina Mitchell, Malcolm Jenkins, hospice board member Ralph Boychuk (submitted/Rose Garden Hospice Association)

By Alison Sandstrom

Donor deluge

Multiple donations for P.A. Hospice

Sep 4, 2019 | 6:35 PM

The Rose Garden Hospice Association accepted nearly $114,000 in donations Wednesday with Malcom Jenkins contributing the largest cheque for almost $76,000.

The P.A. Canadian Tire owner had agreed to match Mama Mia ticket sales and said he was impressed that over 4,000 people, ten per cent of the city’s population, attended the musical last month.

“P.A. people are special. They come out for things like this,” he told paNOW. “They knew they were going to see a great show because Broadway North does great shows, but they also knew that they’d be helping the hospice.”

Jenkins highlighted that hospice care costs half the price of looking after these patients in a hospital setting. That in turn makes for shorter wait times in hospital by freeing up beds.

“I sell a lot of things in my store which are very persuasive, like ‘these tires will last forever’, but I don’t have anything that I can sell that has as positive and simple an argument as that,” he said.

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Dwayne Braaten (right) presents Marina Mitchell and Ralph Boychuk from the hospice association with a $25,000 cheque (submitted/Rose Garden Hospice Association)

Prince Albert real estate broker, Duane Braaten contributed $25,000, citing the comfortable environment a hospice provides is what he wants for himself and his loved ones when it comes to end-of-life care.

“I’ve had a number of family friends that have passed over at the hospital and I know there’s a better way,” he said.

Ralph Boychuck and Marina Mitchell from hospice accept a check from Patricia Wier and Dwight Bergstrom (submitted/Rose Garden Hospice Association)

A donation was also made by Patricia Wier and Dwight Bergstrom for $10,000, with an additional $3,000 coming from Flashback, a local band.

Flashback raised the money during a concert at Villas on the Green.

“The whole idea was to play a little music and take up a collection to go towards the Hospice,” said band member, Al Humphries. “Who would have imagined that we would have raised close to $3,000.”

Marina Mitchell accepts a cheque from the band Flashback. From left, Al Humphries, Ted Pechy, Bill Powalinsky, and hospice board member Ralph Boychuk (submitted/Rose Garden Hospice Association)

Including the cheques presented today, the hospice association has now raised just over $1 million dollars.

“It means a lot to us, we’re one step closer to our goal, the support in our community is amazing,” chair of the board of directors, Marina Mitchell said.

Alison.sandstrom@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @alisandstrom