Co-Chairs backing the hospice cause

The Co-Chairs of the Heart and Home Building Campaign have put their money where their mouth is.

On Thursday morning in downtown Belleville, Hospice Quinte fundraising Co-Chairs John Williams and Ross McDougall donated $200,000 to kick-start the fundraising campaign for their new hospice in Bayside.

Co-Chair John Williams tells Quinte News that despite having an office, no hospice was in the area.

Co-Chair Ross McDougall says they wanted to show the community how strongly they felt about it.

Jennifer May-Anderson of Hospice Quinte says Williams and McDougall have backed up their belief in the project.

The proposal has been looked at for almost a decade, and May-Anderson says the province has stepped up with $1.2 million, along with the City of Quinte West donating the land across from Bayside Secondary School. Both the City of Quinte West and Belleville are offering $1 million.

The Southeast LHIN will be providing more than $600,000 annually to help with operational expenses, once the site is up and running.

Tyendinaga Township, the Town of Deseronto, and the Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory are also part of the Hospice Quinte coverage area and have been approached for financial support.

The hope is to raise the majority of money in 2019, put the project out to tender in 2020 (January), and have shovels on the ground in less than one year. They hope to accept their first patient in spring 2021.