Name change for Huron hospice following 'landmark' donation

It was only for a day, but the care David Bender’s sister received at the Huron Hospice at the end of her life, inspired his family to come forward with a landmark donation to the facility.

"It was the perfect environment. Full of compassion and care, where she could live her last moments with family around her," says David Bender.

David and Susan Bender have donated $500,000 towards the Huron Hospice. And with it, a name change from Huron Hospice Residence to Huron Hospice-Bender House.

"We saw a team here that we trusted, that’s why we followed with our money," says David Bender.

The couple, who split their time between Kitchener and Bayfield, felt now was the time to give to the hospice, located between Clinton and Goderich, not in their will. The donation pushes the hospice’s $1.6 million fundraising goal, within a few hundred thousand dollars of completion. The money will be spent to add two more beds to the four bed facility, which opened in 2018.

"All too often there’s somebody who wants to come to the hospice whose waiting in a hospital bed, and they end up dying before they can get here, because there’s no space," says Willy Van Klooster, Executive Director for the Huron Hospice.

Although occupancy at hospices across Ontario dropped during COVID, that’s changed quite dramatically, this spring.

"Now that we seem to be easing out of the pandemic and people can gather again, our occupancy has been almost full this whole last month. So there is a clear need, that’s there’s a continued need to expand," says Jay McFarland, Huron Hospice Board Chair.

Construction on the Huron Hospice-Bender House expansion to six beds should start this fall, and will hopefully be done by next spring, says McFarlan. The Bender’s historic donation, making all the difference, to helping even more families, during the end of life journey.

"Hospitals are mandated to help the living. This is your end of life. It has to go with dignity," says Susan Bender.