An event will take place Sunday in Airdrie to raise funds for, and bring awareness to a topic that most people don't like to talk about.

The Airdrie and District Hospice Society are holding the Hike For Hospice on Sunday at East Lake Park.  

According to the President of the board of directors for the society, Lise Blanchette, Sunday is also the start of National Hospice Care Week which runs through May 13th.  Airdrie city council has issued a proclamation also marking the event.  

Registration for the hike takes place starting at 8:45 am with the hike beginning at 10:00 am.  Hikers can make a minimum pledge of $25 for individuals or $50 for families and teams.  

Blanchette said the day is meant to be fun, for a serious subject.  

"We're going to have a personal trainer for warm up.  You can do one km or five km walk or run it, whatever you choose to do.  There are door prizes, we're going to have the food truck, The Spud Stud,  We're going to have some support from local politicians, Blake Richards, Angela Pitt and Mayor Brown.  It'll be a great day for a family getting out into the community."

End of life and palliative care is a difficult subject to talk about for a lot of people said Blanchette.  

"They don't really know what it's about and they're afraid to talk about it because it involves end of life.  People aren't comfortable with that topic and they're not comfortable when someone passes away or talking with people who are going through it either."

The society in Airdrie is slowly growing their building fund, but in the meantime has several services they offer for individuals and families going through the end of life process.  

"We can offer volunteers to go in and do respite, so spend a couple of hours with somebody to give the family a break.  We have a compassionate care fund so we can offer funding and we've found most of our funding has been for transportation.  We do offer an education series so we're trying to get our there and inform the community."

Blanchette said the need for hospice care for the Airdrie area is huge.  

"They closed down the palliative care unit at the Peter Lougheed Hospital but they did open up one called Dulcina Hospice.  They've been open maybe a year and a half and they've had over 500 people pass away there and most of them have been people from Airdrie."

To many people, hospice care is all about seniors.  Blanchette said this just isn't so.  

"You can have a mother passing away, and she's got to go to a hospice in Calgary and dad still has to work, still has to pay the mortgage and send the kids to school.  Life still goes on.  Adding on to that is having them drive all the way to Calgary to see their loved ones and support them."

To register for Sunday's hike or find out more about the Airdrie and District Hospice Society click here.

 

 Questions, comments or story ideas? Email us at news@discoverairdrie.com