Pam Busby and Tim Geiger of the Leader and District Trust Advisory Committee present Bev Thompson, manager of the Leader and District Integrated Health Care Facility, with a cheque in the amount of $636,215.48.

By Pam Busby
for the Crossroads

The Leader and District Trust Advisory Committee has been busy collecting funds that will go toward the furnishings and equipment for the Leader and District Integrated Health Care Facility since minister of Health at that time, Dustin Duncan, approved the project on Sept. 22, 2014.

The Leader and District Trust Advisory Committee is made up of members from six rural municipalities and seven towns and villages — “our community.”

Our goal is to raise $1.3 million toward the project. We also took on the task of raising extra funds to pay for the ambulance bay; Pembina has generously taken care of that. Rural municipalities, towns, villages, organizations, and present and past residents in our vast community have generously donated to this project.

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On Sept. 20, 2018, Tim Geiger and Pam Busby of the Trust Advisory Committee presented Bev Thompson, manager of the Leader and District Integrated Health Care Facility with a cheque in the amount of $636,215.48.

This cheque represents the first payment due to the Saskatchewan Health Authority for furnishings and equipment that they have purchased on our behalf for the new facility.

Funds raised by the Leader and District Trust Advisory Committee “stay in our community.” The funds are deposited into an account that we have set up at the Sandhills Credit Union. You can either go to the Sandhills Credit Union and make the donation yourself or you can contact Pam Busby at 306.628.7542 or Tim Geiger at 306.628.7896; they will see that your donations will get deposited into the right account.

The bank account is set up in the name of the Dr. Noble Irwin Foundation; we have partnered with the foundation for accounting and tax reasons.

The foundation also gives our committee advice on fundraising, advertising and donor recognition. When it comes time for us to pay the Saskatchewan Health Authority for the purchases they have made for us or anyone else that we owe money to, with the blessing of the Trust Advisory Committee, the Dr. Noble Irwin Foundation writes the cheque from our bank account at the Sandhills Credit Union; it is then sent to the payee.

The Trust Advisory Committee has complete access to the account and the bank statements. We keep track of where the money comes from and where it is spent.

The Trust Advisory Committee will continue to fundraise into the future. We also accept donations “in memory of.” Once we have raised enough funds to pay for the commitment to the new facility, you can be assured that there will be many other things required.

We are presently working on how donations will be recognized in our new facility; we assure you that your donations will be recognized and are very much appreciated.

The Leader and District Trust Advisory Committee’s goal is to support health care funding in our community.

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