The Keene Lions Club is striving to help kids who have cancer and their families access care close to home through a donation to the Peterborough Regional Health Centre (PRHC) Foundation.
The club recently presented the PRHC Foundation with a pledge of $30,000 in support of pediatric cancer care at the hospital.
“Our members were eager to support this project to give children in our community the life-saving treatment they deserve while sparing families the emotional and financial burden of seeking care far from home,” said Robin Creeden, a long-time member of the Keene Lions Club, during the presentation.
“We were proud to support the building of PRHC twenty years ago with a donation of $30,000, and we are equally proud to support the $60 million campaign of the PRHC Foundation with a pledge of $30,000 as we choose to design our own healthcare future,” Creeden added.
Club president Marion Burton noted that, although the Keene Lions is a small club from a small rural community, residents have supported the group’s fundraising endeavours throughout the year.
Events such as the May long weekend Toll Road fundraiser, weekly community bingo, Delta Bingo, and the club’s food trailer of fried fish and chicken helped make the contribution to PRHC possible.
“The Lions’ motto is ‘we serve,’ so to support families in our community by supporting our local regional hospital is a perfect fit,” Burton said.
When asked what her ultimate hope would be for the impact of the donation, Burton told kawarthaNOW, “The best possible outcome is that young children, under 18, and their families can receive treatment here in Peterborough, close to their home, instead of travelling to Toronto.”
“It is expensive to cover accommodation, meals, et cetera, along with the added stress of being in a strange city.”
According to the PRHC Foundation, cancer care at the hospital — including the expansion of PRHC’s pediatric cancer care program — is one of the priority areas of the Campaign for PRHC. In 2023, there were 605 pediatric cancer patient visits to the hospital by an average of 22 patients, which is an increase of 35 per cent over the previous four years.
With the support of donors, the PRHC Foundation aims to fund a dedicated pediatric cancer care clinic space at the hospital that would include consultation, treatment, and meeting rooms.
“Without this additional space, children with cancer and their families will have to face the additional burden of travel for treatment and tests that can expertly and efficiently be delivered right here,” the PRHC Foundation states.
