Funds raised by four Campbell River and North Island Rotary clubs will support Qwalayu House, a facility in Campbell River providing a safe and comfortable space to families stay while seeking medical care.
On Oct. 15, representatives from Campbell River Daybreak Rotary, Campbell River Noon Rotary, Port McNeil Rotary and Port Hardy Rotary presented a $26,500 cheque to Children’s Health Foundation of Vancouver Island to support Qwalayu House in Campbell River. Together these clubs have committed to raise $100,000 for the facility, helping to ensure it will be support families for years to come.
“We’ve teamed together before for a Rotary-sponsored room in Jeneece Place, the sister house (to Qwalayu) in Victoria, and we just couldn’t imagine this wonderful gift to the community not having a Rotary room,” said Norm Facey, Campbell River Daybreak Rotary president.
The money was raised by each club’s independent fundraising efforts and a matching grant from the Rotary district area.
Qwalayu House opened in July 2021 to serve as a ‘home away from home’ for families from the North Island and surrounding communities travelling to Campbell River to access maternal and pediatric health care. Children’s Health Foundation of Vancouver Island launched a campaign in 2020 to raise $7 million to build the house, equip it, and fund operating costs for its first five years.
Qwalayu house was supported by the two North Island Rotary clubs because it will help serve their communities, said Shannon Shepley, Port MacNeil Rotary president.
“In reality, a lot of Campbell River families won’t use (the facility), but in the North Island, our area, and the small, remote communities, it will help improve the circumstances for families that have to fly in, travel long distances to be with their loved one or get care,” she said. “They now have an opportunity to stay close.”
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sean.feagan@campbellrivermirror.com
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