Editor:
This is a tough time of the year for people who have lost a loved one.
The thought of the first Christmas alone can be overwhelming. Family and friends try to help, but there are times when professional help and trained volunteers are needed.
I am one of the lucky ones, the wonderful people at the White Rock South Surrey Hospice Society have helped me through the past year and have given me hope. In the past year my beloved soul mate and husband got sick and passed away. The wonderful people at the hospice have helped me through the year and continue to do so, as I am facing my first Christmas alone.
This is a busy time of the year for the society, providing additional support to help people get through the Christmas season.
This year was a challenge for the White Rock South Surrey Hospice; programs and appointments to help people had to be cancelled because the old house that functions as office space flooded for the second time in two years. Staff and volunteers scrambled and programs and events were relocated.
A cancelled appointment may seem trivial, unless you are the person who recently lost your child, spouse, parent or best friend. To that person, a missed appointment can be devastating.
The society needs a new building so that this does not happen again.
We have a tremendous caring resource in our community. They need our help. Please consider dropping by Semiahmoo Mall and making a donation at their booth. If you or someone you know has suffered a loss, they have a Christmas tree where you can place a dove with loved ones’ names.
They also have suggestions on how to deal with the Christmas season when it may be your first one alone in a long time.
We need the Hospice Society, and they need us to support them.
Claire Hancock, White Rock