Fort Langley potter Carolyn Maclaren is a ‘glass half full’ kind of person.
And this eternal optimist wanted to combine two things she’s passionate about – pottery and helping others.
Maclaren is credited with helping devise this weekend’s new fundraiser, that she hopes will move Langley Hospice Society one step closer to its goal of realizing its goal of a new 15-bed hospice residence.
Maclaren is a member of the Fraser Valley Potters’ Guild and was the catalyst for this “exciting” new event called Glass Half Full – A Fundraiser, explained hospice funds development manager Shannon Todd Booth.
The soiree is an evening event happening this Saturday at Harrison Pointe, near the airport. And just days ahead of its start, Todd Booth proclaimed it was sold out.
The $75-per-ticket event includes a silent auction and 50/50 raffle, as well as an artisan market – featuring works of the potters from the guild – live entertainment, hors d’oeuvres, and drinks.
But the key to the beverages is that they’re served in a handcrafted tumbler created by one of the pottery guild members for each guest.
“Glass Half Full is a unique fundraising event that invites the community to come together for a fun, cocktail-party-inspired evening to help raise these important funds,” said the society’s executive director Nancy Panchuk.
“The unique concept for the event came by way of an invitation from Fort Langley resident and well-known potter Carolyn Maclaren, who is an active member of the Fraser Valley Potter’s Guild. The guild has partnered with other charities over the years, and felt like the Langley Hospice Society’s new 15-bed residence was both a good fit, and a worthwhile cause to support,” Panchuk explained.
The evening will include a brief program explaining the impact the new hospice residence (which they hope to start building in early 2019) will have on this community, she said. Panchuk looks forward to explaining how this brand new fundraiser, and others, will help furnish and outfit the facility and make “a home for patients, and their families, when they need it most.”
The society is set to break ground on the new hospice residence in early 2019 on 52nd Avenue, just east of 219A Street – by the Langley Memorial Hospital.
In their quest to ensure access to what president Kathy Derksen described as “quality palliative care and support for our growing community,” Langley Hospice Society has been working with Fraser Health and Keystone Architecture to make the project a reality.
“We have recently submitted our architectural plans to the Township of Langley for commencement of the building permit approval process,” Derksen said.
“Our hope is to start site prep soon as possible, with the goal of beginning construction on the new 15-bed Langley hospice Residence in early 2019.”
With the majority of funds in place to build the residence, thanks to support of donors, volunteers, local businesses, and funding partners, the residence fundraising committee is looking to the community for support to help them raise the additional $1 million.
They want it to fell like home “for all who enter its doors,” Derksen said.
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About the Langley Hospice Society
Langley Hospice Society is a community-based, established in 1983, committed to providing emotional, practical and social support for people who are living with terminal illness, and their family and friends throughout the last stage of illness, at the time of death and during bereavement.
In addition to palliative or end-of-life care and support through the hospice residence and in the community, the Langley Hospice Society provides anticipatory, early and ongoing, individual and group grief support programs for children, teens, adults and families; education; advocacy; community outreach; innovative bereavement support programs; volunteer training; day camp and summer camp programs, FREE of charge for the community.
More information is available at:www.langleyhospice.com
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