DEAD MAN'S FLATS – Colton and Brooks, two brothers from Dead Man’s Flats, donated $425 to the Canmore and Area Health Care Foundation.
They raised the money through their hat brand Brooks & Co., selling each hat for five dollars and putting that money towards the foundation.
It is initiatives like that of Colton and Brooks that have helped the foundation provide services, facilities and equipment to support health care in the community. Kristen Pauch-Nolin, executive director of the foundation, said it all comes down to providing time, talent, and treasure.
“One of the things we try to lean to with the foundation is letting people know about who we are, what we do, what our role in the community is,” Pauch-Nolin said. “These kinds of initiatives help demonstrate we are a community foundation. We are about the people here and how much people care about this hospital and how much the hospital cares about them.”
The idea of time, talent and treasure donations is important for the foundation because it allows it to cover many different areas of support for health care in Canmore.
“If people want to donate their time, we have lots of volunteer opportunities for people,” Pauch-Nolin said. “We have a gardens program where we need people who like to plant flowers to help us out.”
When it comes to talent, Pauch-Nolin cited the Ladies Auxiliary that runs the local market, of which 99 per cent of the goods on sale have been crafted by local community individuals.
“They just reached $15,000 through their markets,” Pauch-Nolin said. “They donate these treasures to the Ladies Auxiliary, who sell those at the markets, and they donate the funds to us.”
For treasures, it is about the financial contributions but that isn’t just about money coming in.
“That can come from money, obviously, but we also have donations of shares and other things that people can donate,” Pauch-Nolin said. “Our website directs you to various ways you can contribute including Canada Helps, ATB Cares.”
The brothers combined two of the three donation pillars, by providing time and talent.
“Some people may not have funds to contribute, but they may have time or talent, like these boys who built a business, put their hats out to the universe and a portion goes back into the community,” Pauch-Nolin said. “If two boys can do it, us grown-ups need to pull up our socks.”
The third-party fundraiser run by the brothers was helped by the foundation which got the word out through its marketing and communications.
The money raised through the foundation by various individuals and organizations then goes out to help in many ways.
“When I think about the foundation, I think about what it does,” Pauch-Nolin said. “It raises money for the hospital and health care in the community, through supporting the purchase of equipment.”
The foundation serves as a link in this regard by finding out what various departments at the hospital need, and then going to the community and advertising what the hospital requires.
“We are the matchmaker,” Pauch-Nolin said. “We find organizations or people in the community that are passionate about cardiac care, and want to contribute, and we know from the hospital that they need cardiac equipment, so we make that match.”
The foundation also does facility upgrades, including the $1.5 million upgrade to Golden Eagle View that was achieved through contributions from people and organizations in the community.
“We also did a complete overhaul of the staff room thanks to a single contribution from a community family who wanted to give back to the hospital and the incredible staff who did all sorts of heroic things through COVID.”
The foundation is also re-doing the endoscopy suite through money raised by a third-party fundraiser and the Ladies Auxiliary.
“The community comes to us and says these are health programs that require funds to run and we match and find members of the community who want to support that activity,” Pauch-Nolin said.
To find ways you can help contribute, visit https://canmorehealthfoundation.com.
