Handbags for Hospice

Friday, 17 January 2020 10:17

The Oxford Auditorium will be a full house tonight for the 10th annual Handbags for Hospice.

WOODSTOCK - The Oxford Auditorium will be a full house tonight for the 10th annual Handbags for Hospice.

In ten years, the event has welcomed 7,000 guests who have helped raise over $1 million for VON Sakura House. Sakura House is Oxford County's only residential hospital. Over 1,000 volunteers have donated their time for this event over the years and a long list of local businesses have been sponsors and prize donors.

Handbags for Hospice features some signature components with a live a auction of gorgeous designer handbags by Layne, The Auctionista. The event has been so successful, that it has led to other regions doing similar Handbags for Hospice fundraiser's.

An important highlight of the event is the fund-a-need segment, which started in 2014, to help raise donations for a specific project at Sakura House. Through this initiative, more than $240,000 has been raised to fund: a new refrigerator for the kitchen, patio furniture for the patient wing, a sit to stand lift for patients, sofa beds for each patient room, created a new children’s bereavement program, Kids’ Circle, a redesign of the nursing care station, and a geriatric bed and ceiling lift in 2019.

This year’s fund-a-need project is to build a beautiful courtyard oasis in the patient wing of the house. A local architect had drawn up the design in 2012 but the plan never came to fruition because of the lack of funds. This year’s goal is $50,000 and community members can also get involved by making a donation online here, calling 519-539-1231 or mailing or dropping of a cheque at VON Oxford at 550 Ingersoll Avenue in Woodstock.

Co-Chairs, Jill Roberts and Sarah Pimentel issued the following statement in a release about the event.

"Handbags for Hospice is a celebration. A celebration of a successful event, a celebration of a 10 year anniversary, and an overall celebration of our community. Fundraising efforts support Sakura House.
Sakura House is a special place where patients do not go for their lives to end. When a patient enters Sakura House, a celebration of a life lived begins. We are grateful and proud that our community comes together each year at this event to ensure that Sakura House is there for us, whenever we need it to be."

VON Oxford would like to thank the 2020 Handbags for Hospice Organizing Committee: Christie Birch, Jayne Brewster, Karen Culley, Kim DeGraaf, Nancy Howse, Cathy Lee, Sarah Pimentel, Jill Roberts, and
Louisa Russell.

A special thanks to all of our sponsors throughout the years, with a special thanks to Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada as the Handbags for Hospice Title Sponsor.

We can’t wait to see 850 guests tonight at the Oxford Auditorium for our 10th #HandbagsforHospice in #Woodstock #OxfordCounty! #PainttheTown #Hospice #Fundraiser pic.twitter.com/MMdiHsNMpY
— VON Sakura House (@VONSakuraHouse) January 17, 2020