Hockey For Hospice Shoots And Scores Again!

By: Devan Mighton, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Lakeshore News Reporter

For 28 years, the folks behind Hockey For Hospice have performed a miracle for the people of Windsor and Essex County! With their annual house league hockey tournament, over $5.8 million has been raised for palliative care in the region.

This year’s sum: $538,984!

“It wasn’t a record year, but it was pretty close to what we did last year,” says Katharen Bortolin, executive director of The Hospice of Windsor and Essex County. “That being said, it has a massive impact for our community.”

The Windsor Branch of Hospice, located at 6038 Empress St., has 12 beds. These beds are about 50 per cent covered by government funding, while the unfunded portion is about $150 per bed, per night. This year’s tournament raised enough money to cover eight of those beds for an entire year.

“We care for hundreds of patients and families a year, so this is hundreds of patients and families that will be able to receive hospice care at a time where things are very difficult and it will be at no cost to them – thanks to our little fundraising phenoms,” explains Bortolin.

Phenoms they were! Almost 2,000 of them, playing for 115 teams, across four different arenas from Dec. 27-29. This is a far cry from the tournament’s roots, founded by Tim Beaulieu as a skate-a-thon, 28 years ago.

The OMHA and OWHA-sanctioned event features house league teams primarily from across Windsor and Essex County. Bortolin says that through the massive task of scheduling this many teams, they make an effort to give the tournament more of a travel hockey feel, trying to keep teams from playing other clubs from their home associations or at their regular arenas.

“The teams always work really hard to fundraise and it’s always amazing and really special,” she says. “It’s been something that has been a part of what we do for a number of years during Hockey For Hospice.”

“As a part of Hospice, we are there to have fun and that’s what the focus is, but we have volunteers at all the arenas that go into the rooms with the players and let them know the impact they are having and just how important those fundraised dollars are. When they ask the players if they have had any personal experiences, oftentimes we’ll hear about a family member or a family friend that had a hospice experience and it’s really heartwarming and beautiful to hear those positive experiences.

“There is the hockey part that everybody sees and it’s a lot of fun, and it’s absolutely at the core of what we do, but there’s also an education and “thank you” piece that is really special to this tournament, so, invariably, when this part happens, there’s always heartwarming stories that come out about personal experiences or “thank you”s for the things that our staff and volunteers do everyday.”

Founded in 1979, The Hospice of Windsor and Essex County takes care of patients in need of end-of-life care. Often, the reason for the care is due to cancer, but can also be for other reasons as well. With a focus on palliative care, Hospice is not so much focussed on treating the disease, but for caring for the patients, their clinical needs, as well as the spiritual, psychological, and emotional needs of the patient and their family to give them the best quality of life until their loved one passes.

“It is end-of-life care but our vision is to be a specialized and recognized team,” explains Bortolin. “Delivering memorable care – and that memorable care’s at the heart of what we do.”

Fundraisers like Hockey For Hospice are intrinsic to the operation of Hospice.

“As we are about 50 per cent government-funded, and of course we are very grateful for those dollars that support what we do, there’s also a big component of fundraising that happens at Hospice,” states Bortolin. “We cannot operate without these dollars and we are so grateful. It’s all going directly to the support and care of patients and families in Windsor and Essex County. Each dollar is very much appreciated and each dollar goes towards patient care.”

For more information on The Hospice of Windsor and Essex County, please visit their website at www.TheHospice.ca.