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Measure
It is a test. A test of resolve. A test of determination. Of imagination. Our community has been assigned the task of raising $16.5 million toward the building of a new hospital in Picton. About the only thing that can stop a new hospital from rising in our community at this point is indifference. That is, if we leave it to others to make the financial sacrifice on our behalf. Therefore, it is up to each of us to give. Whatever we can.
I want to revisit David Smith’s proposal, detailed in these pages a couple of weeks ago. Not only was it a clever notion, but it also illustrated how simple it can be to support your hospital.
David Smith is the project leader for the Wellington Rotary’s hospital fundraising campaign. The service group intends to raise $400,000 toward the build.
David saw an opportunity when the Federal government announced it was providing a one-time COVID payment to seniors of $300 to those eligible for the Old Age Security pension, and an additional $200 if they also receive the Guaranteed Income Supplement.
The one-time benefit raised eyebrows when it was proposed. Certainly, seniors were devastated by the virus, often isolated and alone. They were at a much higher risk of getting sick and dying from the disease. But it wasn’t at all clear that this cohort had endured a financial toll.
Generalizing like this, especially about people’s finances, is always a dangerous gambit. There are undoubtedly some for whom the COVID-seniors-benefit came as muchneeded relief. But statistics tell an important, if incomplete, story.
According to 2012 data compiled by Macleans magazine, seniors (65 and older) earned an average of $45,000 per year, compared with $12,000 for people 45 and younger. The gap is more pronounced when you look at wealth. The average senior in Canada has amassed $460,000, while those between 35 and 44 have accumulated just $182,500. Moreover, this wealth gap is accelerating—” the median net worth of seniors has similarly jumped 70 per cent since 1999, but hardly risen at all for those younger than 35,” reported Tamsin McMahon in 2014. A Bank of Montreal study showed that seniors’ wealth had quadrupled since 1984.
It scarcely needs mentioning, too, that seniors rely on our hospital and healthcare services, in general, more than other demographics.
It was against this backdrop that David appealed to each of the seniors in Prince Edward County to consider contributing the COVID seniors’ payment to the build campaign. The gift, he explained, would also create a tax benefit that would free up another $50.
We are blessed with a great many seniors in the County. Nearly 30 per cent of those counted in the 2016 census were 65 or older. That is 7,380 people. If every one of these folks contributes the COVID benefit of $300, it will deliver $2.2 million to the campaign. If they all chip in the tax benefit, it adds another $375,000 to the goal—a total of more than $2.5 million.
And for most folks, this single deliberative act will have no impact on their personal finances.
The example illustrates the power we can summon when we pull together. We have seen some great community-minded folks write serious cheques to the campaign. Their leadership ought to shine a path for the rest of us.
A few years ago, this community raised $2.5 million for the community centre and arena in Wellington. That effort stirred memories of an earlier fundraising campaign to rebuild the old Dukedome after a fire in the early 1980s partially destroyed the old rink. A reader brought in a ledger book documenting all the donations to the restoration fund collected by Foster Bailey—an interesting character and village fixture.
The ledger contained hundreds upon hundreds of names with the amount of contribution neatly scribed next to each donor. Some had given hundreds of dollars. But a great many had given more modest amounts. $4.50. $7. $33.20. Each donation respectfully documented and noted.
It is what this test demands. Everyone pulling together. In whatever capacity we are able. I am confident this community will meet this challenge—have been so since the idea was first conjured a decade ago. I have witnessed and documented the fierce struggles to maintain Prince Edward County Memorial as a viable, functioning hospital. I know the passion for this House of Healing that resides in this population.
This passion is being tested again.
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