The Ukranian Seniors Society presenting the Battleford's Union Hospital Foundation with a cheque for $90,000. (submitted photo/BUH Foundation)

By Josh Ryan

Community kindness

BUH Foundation receives generous gift from local senior society

Sep 16, 2020 | 10:08 AM

In the middle of pandemic summer, a recently disbanded seniors organization chose to help secure healthcare.

Members of the Battlefords Ukrainian Senior Citizens Society #184 decided as one of their final acts in the region to donate $90,000 to the Battlefords Union Hospital (BUH) Foundation. The donation finalizes the 2019/2020 Capital Campaign for new birthing beds and fetal monitors for BUH’s Women’s Health and Birthing Centre, as well as kickstarting next year’s campaign for new diagnostic equipment.

BUH Foundation Executive Director Claudette McGuire said they were excited and grateful for the Ukranian Seniors’ generosity.

“This generous gift will help the BUH Foundation’s goal to have the most technologically advanced equipment to continue to support the lab and we are grateful for their gift,” she said.

BUH’s laboratory also serves surrounding communities, performing hundreds of tests daily and providing the value for diagnosis and treatment plans. McGuire said this is a big step for local healthcare in the future.

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“If we are able to provide them the very best equipment that’s available, that means they can get their diagnostics quicker and it means treating patients that much quicker,” she said.

“This will benefit everyone in the Battlefords.”

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the BUH Foundation has continued to see steady donations throughout the year, much of them on a monthly basis. McGuire said getting this gift is still certainly welcome considering the current time.

“But whenever you see a donation of this magnitude, that’s always helpful at any time,” she said.

John Sendecki, who was the treasurer for the Ukranian Seniors, said deciding what to do with the money from selling the clubhouse where they operated was one of their priorities as soon as they met after coming to the decision to disband the club. Shortly after that decision, made because of a significant drop in membership in recent years, they chose the BUH Foundation as the gift recipient.

““Our best option was to donate the money to the hospital,” Sendecki said.

He said it’s a nice way to end the club’s chapter in the region, after making the difficult, but necessary, decision to disband.

“When you have 125 people, everyone can contribute,” Sendecki said. “When you have just a handful of people, who are older, some aren’t able to come out anymore.”

And in choosing the BUH Foundation, the gift will not only help this sick and injured in the short term, but the entire region for years to come.

“We all need the hospital,” he said.

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josh.ryan@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @JoshRyanSports