Saying goodbye is always hard, but it was especially difficult for loved ones at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic when social distance and restricted hospital visits were the order of the day.

This was particularly true at Newmarket's Margaret Bahen Hospice.

Margaret Bahen Hospice, a residential hospice serving the needs of northern York Region, along with Doane House Hospice, pride themselves on easing the transition for more than 100 area residents and their families each year.

But, when they were forced to close their doors to outside visitors in March to keep the virus at bay, they needed to get creative in providing comfort – including exploring new ways to bring in family pets to soothe their humans in the final days when relatives were unable to do so.

Now, Margaret Bahen and Doane House Hospices are asking the community to get their creative juices flowing in ways of giving back – and the best way to do that might be breaking a sweat.

The local hospices have launched The Great 2020 Hospice Activity Challenge, a new way to support local hospice care after the pandemic forced the cancellation of the annual Hike for Hospice in the spring.

The idea is simple. In lieu of the hike, why not turn your favourite summer activities into a way to support the wider community?

“When we couldn't hold the events we were originally planning, we needed to take some different approaches,” says Margaret Bahen's Director of Care Tamara Hennigar. “Seeing that a lot of our programs had been extremely successful going virtual, we thought we could use that same modality and use virtual as part of our fundraising mechanism as well.”

Since taking their education, counselling and activity programs online, the Hospice says they have seen an increase in participation and shifting fundraising in the same direction just made sense.

“The activity challenge is going to be for the whole month of August and it is a great way for people to do whatever activity they enjoy the most – biking, walking, hiking, swimming, jumping rope – into a way to get active, raise awareness for Hospice and donate,” she says. “It is a really great way for people to tailor their unique lives and unique enjoyments and maybe motivate people to do a little bit more outside and get a little bit more active.”

Getting involved is easy. The first step is to register online at myhospice.ca, pick your activities, and show your commitment through social media where you can then ask for pledges and collect donations from individuals supporting your chosen activities.

You can post and share your activities, engage people in fun ways and, perhaps most importantly, share your story – and each story about why you support Hospice is unique and personal.

Hennigar will be taking part in the 2020 Great Activity Challenge by spending time in the pool with her family – swimming in honour of her grandmother who died last year.

Margaret Bahen's Filipa Tavares will also be doing her part. As a dog owner, she is an avid walker and, come August, she will be leashing up in memory of several family members who have lost their lives to cancer.

“This is a way for me and my family to remember them,” says Tavares. “I also want to show how [fundraising for Hospice] impacts the whole community. During COVID, we saw a lot of families unable to say their physical goodbyes and we were still able to provide those ‘hospice' moments. One of the things we did is we were able to bring family pets into the facility to bring another part of the family to a resident who was dying, even though they were unable to say goodbye to the rest of the family.

“It was a great effort of the team and just seeing how these animals would actually guide us to each of the residents' rooms was amazing. It is moments like that that the community doesn't get to see and I think the public needs to be aware of how Hospice runs.”

From Hennigar's perspective, one of the big misconceptions about Hospice is that it is a “very sad” place and that is a view that needs to be challenged.

“People do come here and die and have very sad times, but our goal isn't for it to be sad; it is about living,” she says. “Everyone who comes in, we help them live every moment until they are not living anymore. It is important for everyone to understand that, yes, you are losing someone and it is very impactful and very sad, but we can help you and your family live together and live the best you can by doing things like bringing in their dogs.

“We really do generally live by the word ‘yes.' What do you want? We'll figure it out.”

Adds Filipa: “We'll find a way.”

Finding a way, however, takes resources and Hospice hopes to raise approximately $85,000 through the 2020 Great Activity Challenge.

“Unfortunately, due to COVID-19 and not being able to do our typical fundraising events, our fundraising dollars have been quite low to date and we have increased expenses with the cost of PPE and increased cleaning and increased staffing costs,” explains Hennigar. “We have had a lot of expenses going out and very little coming in, which has made it more challenging.”

Next Week: How COVID-19 changed the day-to-day operations of Margaret Bahen Hospice and how the organization and partners came together to address challenges and find new opportunities.

By Brock Weir