Season's Greetings from Pines Support Committee
Season's Greetings Families and Friends of The Pines!
We at The Pines Support Committee need your help! Our membership is low and the future of the Support Committee is uncertain! We are looking for individuals to join the PSC who are interested in making a real difference in the lives of our residents.
We'd like to tell you a little bit about the PSC, who we are and what we do. The Pines Support Committee was established in 2009 by a group of dedicated volunteers to raise funds for the exclusive benefit of our residents to "Optimize Life". We have held several fundraisers over the years, including Gala Dinners and Online and Silent Auctions. We also gratefully acknowledge and accept In Memoriam donations and general donations from Service Clubs in the area. All donors receive tax receipts from the District of Muskoka.
Perhaps many of you are not aware what the PSC has been able to purchase with these funds so we'd like to boast a little and list some:
*Our committee funded the expansion and renovation of the front entrance and Country Kitchen/Solarium space creating a beautiful and bright place for residents, family and staff to gather to socialize and enjoy meals, crafts and activities.
*The committee set a goal to replace every resident bed with what is called a "Hi-Lo" bed which benefits both residents and staff immensely allowing for easier resident transfers, assisting staff with resident care and more importantly reducing fall risk. We are proud to report we just approved the purchase of an additional 20 beds bringing our total beds purchased to 110!
*Technology is essential for everyone to stay in touch and we recognized during the pandemic that residents needed to be able to visit with their families virtually so the PSC purchased Ipads for each unit so loved ones could Facetime regularly. We also purchased four Smart televisions to help staff provide lots of entertainment and activities for residents. At our last meeting we approved the purchase of a desktop computer and two laptops for resident use. In the Spring of 2022 we approved the purchased a fantastic piece of equipment called an
https://omi.uk/care/mobii-interactive-table-floor/ which enhances residents with dementia recreational time.
At our most recent meeting we had asked department heads at The Pines for their wish lists and wow did they come through! We are proud to state we approved the purchase of the following:
Three Pallative Care Carts costing $2034.00
Five Sara Steady Lifts costing $9851.80
Five Sara Sit to Stand Lifts costing $22,569.36
Four Rubbermaid Security Cleaning Carts which keep cleaning products secure when the cart is unattended costing $3694.68
One Crown Verity BBQ for Resident/Staff BBQs in the courtyard costing $5680.05
Five Cordless vacuums for resident areas costing $740.00
Along with these items listed we include the additional Hi-Lo beds and computers
We also agreed to fund $21.00 per resident for Christmas gifts costing $3234.00
To sum things up, we are proud to say in 2022 alone we have provided equipment and services for The Pines costing just shy of $200,000.00!
We are sounding the alarm bells! Without new membership The Pines Support Committee will no longer be able to carry on and the important fundraising and purchases listed above for our residents will be no more. We meet once a month to discuss fundraising plans, expenditure requests and general business. If you are not able to attend meetings in person, you can always join virtually through Zoom.
We hope that 2023 will bring us many new enthusiastic members and allow the PSC to begin fundraising again. If you are interested and have any questions, please contact Kim Gibbs at The Pines at 705-645-4488.
