People are invited to lace up their shoes and hit the trails to support the Foothills Country Hospice.
The first annual Foothills-based Hike for Hospice event will take place on May 7, beginning at the Okotoks Recreation Centre at 2 p.m. Registration will start at 1 p.m.
It’s part of a national initiative put on by the Canadian Hospice and Palliative Care Association that has been going strong for 13 years.
Foothills Country Hospice executive director Dawn Elliott said the board was looking at holding a new fundraiser this year that would be a little different from its usual events, and decided on the hike.
“We decided we wanted to give Hike for Hospice a shot, with the hope of raising more awareness about hospice,” she said.
They’re also hoping to raise about $10,000, said Elliott.
Registrants pay a $10 entry fee for the four-kilometres walk along Okotoks pathways, she said. The first 300 participants will receive a free t-shirt with their registration, and children under five years old are free, she said.
Teams are welcome, but each member must pay his or her own registration fee, she said.
“We’re blown away by how many people have registered for it and how many people are putting teams together for it, so it’s just going great,” said Elliott.
Participants are encouraged to get pledges for the hike, and donations can be made through a link on the Foothills Country Hospice website, she said.
All funds raised will be put toward various needs of the hospice and items on the wish list, such as patient bedding, medical supplies, food and other necessities, she said.
The annual budget of the Foothills Country Hospice is about $2.8 million, and it costs $950 per day to manage its eight beds, she said. The 100 patients and their families who receive care at the hospice each year are not charged for their stay, and Alberta Health Services covers about 59 per cent of the budget, so the hospice relies heavily on fundraising, she said.
“We’re really excited about this, and we’re just really pleased with the positive response we’ve had so far,” said Elliott. “We’re looking forward to it. It’s a really big thing for us.”
