A Journey to a Better Life Takes a DetourBy Maggie Keaveney

Our MissionThe Mark Preece Family House is a not for profit organization that provides temporary, affordable, accessible accommodation in a supportive environment for families of acute care in-patients being treated in a Hamilton area hospital.

You Can Make A Difference Your organization and special events: We would be delighted to hear if you have a community event and would be interested in supporting the House through your efforts.

In-Kind Donations: Do you have resources or donations that could help House operations?

Cheques may be made payable to: Mark Preece Family House. General donations as well as special tributes and memorial donations will all help sustain House operations.

To donate online go to: www.markpreecehouse.ca

Hospital Family Houses of Ontario Charitable registration # 86700 9615 RR0001

Mark Preece Family House Board of DirectorsThe Board of Directors of the Mark Preece Family House recently named the following officers and directors to the Board for the 2014/15 year:

Chris Holtved Chair

David Carruth Vice Chair

Kim Jenkinson Treasurer

Sandy Craik Past Chair

Tom Cochren

In December 2013, Joginder Singh and his wife Manjeet Kaur left their home in New Delhi, India to join their son and daughter in Kitchener, ON.

Joginder had first experienced Canada when he worked as an electrical engineer for an Aerospace company in 2008. He felt that Canada could provide his family with an opportunity for a better life. Their daughter Ramneek and son Sudeep were both studying for their engineering degrees at the University of Waterloo and plan to follow in their father’s footsteps.

In January, a mere month after starting his new job here in Canada, Joginder was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive brain tumour. He was transferred to Hamilton General late February where he had his first operation. For rehab, Joginder was transported back to the Kitchener hospital where he remained hospitalized.

In June, a follow up examination identified that the tumour had returned and Joginder

found himself facing more surgery followed by chemotherapy and radiation treatments.

During this series of events, Joginder’s family knew not where to turn. Only a month into his new job, Joginder was not eligible for benefits and they could not afford to stay in area hotels. They spent days on end sitting by his side, catching bits of sleep where and when they could.

As often happens, staff at the hospital suggested they look into the Mark Preece Family House. Manjeet has stayed at the House several times; first in March and most recently in August. Her children join her when possible.

In Manjeet’s words, The Mark Preece Family House is ‘marvellous in all the senses. It’s better than staying at Mom’s house. You don’t need to worry about cooking or cleaning’.

Manjeet found great support from the staff at the House and from talks she would have with other guests. She found that time spent in the dining room was like a magic elixir. Guests would enter the dining room with ‘pressure on their mind’ and before they left, they would have a smile on their face from sharing conversations with others.

Manjeet and her children are very grateful to the House for providing them with a means to remain so close to their loved one in such a tranquil and comforting environment. Manjeet wanted to be sure to point out that her children will make donations when they are financially able to do so.

On August 15, Joginder returned home for the first time since February. His family hopes that they can now start to build that better life they were looking for.

HousewarmingFall 2014

‘Marvellous in all the senses. It’s better than staying at Mom’s house’

Tim Craik

Charlotte Daniels

Leslie Gauthier

Suzanne Mlekuz

Jim Murray

Michael Veri

Heather Whittingham

The Mark Preece Family House - Housewarming - Fall edition 2014

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Realtors Association of Hamilton & Burlington Support Mark Preece Family House

Each year the Realtors Association of Hamilton & Burlington donates to worthy shelter and housing-based charities within the area.

It was the Mark Preece Family House that initially approached the Association. To the House’s great honour, they were successful in the approval process and have received several donations in recent years.

Ross Godsoe is the CEO of the Association. His responsibility is to represent its members’ interest within their community. Ross feels that donating to the Mark Preece Family House is, in its own small way, immersing the realtors in their community and enhancing their image to the public.

Thunder Bay Families Fundraising Walk, Run or HikeKamview Nordic Centre Saturday, October 4, 2104Cardiologist Dr. Chris Lai and Take A Hike owner Diane Petryna invite you to walk the trails of the Kamview Nordic Centre on Saturday, October 4 in support of Northern Hearts and the Mark Preece Family House.

TO PARTiCiPATe: collect a minimum of $20 in pledges and walk or run one of the 1, 2 or 5 km trails. Your pledges will benefit both charities and your heart!

Donations over $10 will receive a tax receipt. Prizes will be awarded to the top three pledge collectors.

Pick up pledge forms at Take A Hike (across from the Hoito at 309 Bay Street) or download copies from the website: www.northernhearts.org

On October 4, meet at the Kamview Nordic Centre at 10:00 am to sign-in and turn in your pledges. To reserve your free, after-hike lunch, please call June at Northern Hearts, 345-2008 by October 1. Additional meals may be purchased for $10.

Enjoy the beautiful autumn colours and magnificent scenery as you stroll along one of the one, two or five km trails. We’ll wrap it up with a light lunch, refreshments and plenty of participant draws.

event Contact: June 345-2008

Message from the Chair

By the time this newsletter arrives in your mailbox, summer will have passed and we will be settling back into our familiar fall routines. With our spectacular second floor build now in the rear view mirror, the House is also settling back into its regular operating rhythm.

Our decision to expand the House by 10 rooms has allowed us to serve additional families that otherwise would have had to find alternative accommodation in Hamilton while their loved one is in hospital. In fact, the House is now accommodating more than its initial capacity of 14 rooms on a nightly basis, and has already been filled to its new capacity of 24 families on a number of occasions.

One thing the additional capacity of the second floor has changed in our regular operating rhythm is an increase in the monthly cost of operating the House. These

needs, like the routine we fall into at this time of year, are regular and consistent.

On that theme, Friends of the Family is a new program we introduced earlier this year which allows donors to make regular monthly contributions via their credit card or chequing account. Regular monthly donations help ensure a consistent sustainable foundation for the House and the families we support. This can be done on our revamped website by using the `pull down’ for frequency of donation, where you enter your credit card number. We also encourage you to visit our website for up to date House news and events.

We hope you all had a wonderful summer and thanks as always on behalf of the House and our families for continuing to support our mission.

Chris Holtved, Chair

The Mark Preece Family House was awarded a 2014 Award of excellence Trillium Award this summer!

Settling into our fall routines

Thanks to volunteers Michael Veri, Tracey Schockaert, Nadine Eagleson, Suzanne Mlekuz and Dan Forrest for planting annuals and helping to maintain our beautiful grounds.

One of the oldest and largest beautification programs in North America, the Hamilton Trillium Awards Program has been a Hamilton institution since 1956. Now, more than half-century and thousands of Trillium Award recipients later, the program continues to generate civic pride.

The Hamilton Trillium Awards Program recognizes those residents and organizations who, by landscaping and maintaining their property, have contributed to a more attractive neighbourhood and community. The 2014 Hamilton Trillium Award Recipients photos will be on display at the Hamilton Fall Garden & Mum Show (October 31 - November 9, 2014) at the Gage Park Greenhouse. The program is operated by volunteers and supported by the City of Hamilton.

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But how do you decide where your “good” does the best? I mean, a day doesn’t go by where we are not inundated with requests for financial support. There is great need everywhere. You can run, hike, climb, ride, swim or donate to someone who has the energy to do it on your behalf to support more causes than I have space to list here. You can buy a shoe, a boot or a ray of sunshine at the grocery store and fast food establishment in support of any number of deserving charities. I have probably donated or participated in a good portion of them. Until this year, the year I learned of the Mark Preece House.

On April 11, 2014 our mother, Julie Vansickle, was rushed to General Hospital in Hamilton with a severe bleed in her brain. While following the ambulance to Hamilton from Hagersville, we had no idea of the severity of her condition but felt it best to contact all family members. My brother John from Sarnia had the longest drive. We brought nothing with us, just the hope that our much-loved Mother would recover quickly. She was going to be mad when she woke up in the hospital but at least when she saw all of us, it would lessen the blow for her. She loved it best when we were all together, family gatherings were her favorite.

We all gathered in the waiting room of the ICU and awaited word of our Mom’s condition and wondered when we could see and talk to her. It unfolded like a bad made-for-TV movie when the neurologist informed us that there would be no talking to Mom. Tough decisions would need to be made. We spent the night sitting up in chairs, sleeping on the floor and hunched in the corners of the waiting room and taking turns being with Mom. She wasn’t to be left alone.

As you may or not have experienced in your own life, the physical and emotional toll in such a situation is unexplainable. We were exhausted and didn’t want to be far from Mom. A nurse recommended the Mark Preece House. We had never heard of such a place. Now there isn’t anyone I don’t tell about it. Our gratitude to the home and to the staff is endless. It looked after all our needs so that we could look after our Mom. The compassion and kindness that was shown to us was incredible. After three days our much-loved mother left us.

My brothers and I decided that our “good” was “best” served at the Mark Preece House. It is our time and love that has the most value and the Mark Preece House allowed us to do our best for Mom. All our energy and focus could be on her because we didn’t need to worry about having a place to rest and regroup. We have adopted April 20 through the Adopt-A-Day program as a day to celebrate our Mom and our Dad. We hope that, through this donation, other families will be able to put their entire focus on their loved ones, without any additional stress, because in the end all that matters is the time we spent together and the love we share.

There are charities out there, great ones, that look after the patient but sometimes all the patient needs to know is that their loved ones are looked after. The Mark Preece House did that for us. Mom would have loved that.

Donna Bacher Fisherville

“When you are good to others, you are best to yourself” – Benjamin Franklin

In addition to making someone’s day just a little brighter, Adopt-A-Day is a wonderful way to pay tribute to a loved one.

Think of adopting a day in honour or memory of a loved one, to celebrate a milestone or in lieu of holiday gifts.

Many thanks to the most recent donors to the Adopt-A-Day program:

Ardis Archer*

Donna Bacher

Lesley Bell

Eileen Bidulka*

Frank & Gail Braun

Norma Caldwell

Sandy Craik*

Ed Davidian

Betty Fowler

Gerry’s Roofing & Siding Inc.

Gerry & Jane St. Germain*

Alison Hall*

Pam Jessop

Dave Jewett

Bev Junnila*

Lloyd & Beverly MacDonald

Jack MacMillan

Hartwig Mallmann & Ulli Spiller*

Brian & Marie McCluskey

Rita Preece*

Don Ross

G. Maurice & Anne Marie Webster

Roxanne Widdicombe*

Adopt-A-Day and make a difference

We adopted April 20 as a day to celebrate our Mom and our Dad

* Thank you to those donors who have made an on-going commitment to support the Adopt-A- Day Program on an annual basis!

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Volunteer Corner

Paula Quinn was enrolled in a ‘Not For Profit’ course offered at Mohawk College when she first heard mention of the Mark Preece Family House. The construction of the House had just been halted as a result of a devastating fire caused by arson. Paula chose the Mark Preece Family House as the topic of a presentation she was required to make for her course. The House and its goal resonated strongly with Paula.

The mission of the House, the struggles it encountered before even opening its doors and the dedication of the founding members left a lasting impression with Paula. She knew then that she wanted to be involved with The House at some point in time. When Paula’s time opened up many years later she knew it was time to follow up on her interest.

When you visit the House you might find Paula at the front desk, greeting guests. When she’s not there you’ll probably find her somewhere in the house tidying up where needed. Paula

is known to bring with her yummy cookies when she comes to the House and sometimes she’ll even prepare dinner for guests. One of her favourite tasks has been helping organize the golf tournament and the upcoming Fall for Beer event.

As an experienced volunteer, Paula understands the importance of volunteering. What she finds most rewarding about volunteering for the Mark Preece House is the look of appreciation she sees on guests’ faces during their stay. To guests, the House is a comforting and warm home-away-from-home. Paula can lend an ear to those who need to talk, or just a warm smile.

What makes Paula happy is that the addition of rooms on the second floor means that guests are rarely turned away due to availability now and there are more guests that she can help during their time of need.

The Journey from Classroom to Reality

Tony Napoleone donated a number of supplies for the House.

Generosity around the House...

Deborah Shannon donated a number of items essential to running the House.

Leona Toombs and Jocelyn Brady made a generous donation to the House.

What motivates someone to volunteer? The answer is always as unique as the individual.

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The McCulloch and Warkholdt families donated a vacuum cleaner.Ron and Elizabeth Laffin donated a power drill and a park bench for the front entrance.

Generosity around the House...

Dave Jewett and Luis Ruiz preparing dinner for the families.Gail Bielecky and Margaret Boyle cooked dinner for the families in honour of their late mother Pearl Boyle.

The gang from Ross & McBride came to cook dinner for families.

3rd Annual Walk/Run for Mark Preece House

in Memory of Jason P. Morin

Saturday, May 2, 2015

South Niagara Rowing Club 270 Colborne St.,Welland

SavE THE DaTE!

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We, Christopher Moran’s family and friends, would like to make this donation to the Mark Preece House in Christopher’s memory. We are sure Christopher would have been grateful and appreciative that you provided a place for his family to stay during his time at Hamilton General Hospital.

This donation is provided through the money we earned selling t-shirts printed with Christopher’s artwork, through a website called Threadless. Threadless is a graphic t-shirt printing company that prints the submitted artwork by aspiring artists and designers across the globe. Designs are printed based on the rating and number of votes it receives from the Threadless community.

Christopher and his family have been purchasing t-shirts from the website since he was a young boy and have accumulated a large collection of graphic t-shirts. He had hoped that one day he would have his own artwork printed on a Threadless t-shirt.

We chose to carry out that dream for Christopher in his memory. We selected to submit an illustration out of a series he had done in his last year of high school that he was particularly proud of. The Threadless community responded very positively and they accepted to print Christopher’s design.

We are incredibly happy to have the t-shirt up and being sold and shipped to people all around the world. We wanted to share Christopher’s artworks with the world and create one of the best memories we possibly could of him.

We were all lucky to have Christopher be a part of our lives. He was always giving and caring. He was a positive, upbeat light of our lives. We will always miss him and always be thinking of him.

Thank you for your generous care during the difficult period for our boy and the loss of him. Your house truly makes a difference in our lives. The comfort you provided for Christopher’s family during one of the most difficult times in their lives is greatly appreciated. We are glad to know that the money Christopher and his artwork have earned through Threadless will be going to a wonderful foundation such as yours.

All the best, The Family and Friends of Christopher Moran

Christopher’s dream fulfilled

We are pleased to announce that we have a new and improved website! In particular, the donation section has been improved to make it much easier to make a donation online. Please let us know if you have difficulties.

Please note that you can use the ‘pull down’ for frequency of donation, in the area where you enter your credit card number. You can make a one-time, monthly, semi-annual or annual commitment. Making a regular commitment saves time for you and administration for us. It also allows you to make a more significant donation than you may be able to by writing a cheque today.

It’s also possible to get information on the website about, and register for, events such as Fall for Beer which is coming up October 23. Also be sure to check out the photos from previous events in the Events section – you may just find your smiling face in there!

The blog from Threadless:

A TRiBUTe TO BUDDiNG ARTiST CHRiSTOPHeR MORAN

Today we’re honored to print “Beast”, a design created by the late and talented Christopher Moran. A budding artist studying architecture at the University of Waterloo and long-time Threadless fan, 20-year-old Christopher dreamt of one day having his own design selected for a Threadless tee. Sadly, Christopher lost his life after being struck by a car this past December. As a tribute, his family and friends submitted his design, “The Beast”, for voting, and told his story in the forum. Since we have the most awesome community ever, everyone banded together and voted “Beast” right into print.

Buy the t shirt here: www.threadless.com/product/5872/

He had hoped that one day he would have his own artwork printed on a Threadless t-shirt.

Check us out online!

Check us out at www.markpreecehouse.ca and be sure to follow us on Facebook – search Mark Preece Family House and ‘like’ us; also follow us on Twitter @markpreecehouse.

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191 Barton Street East, Hamilton, ON L8L 2W7 P: 905-529-0770 • F: 905-529-9955 info@markpreecehouse.ca • www.markpreecehouse.ca

Three good reasons you should have an estate plan

If it were your family, you would want someone to care.

• Your Family• Yourself• Families – just like yours,

in need during a difficult time

Other benefits include:

• Providing a future gift while retaining controls of your assets during your lifetime

• A charitable tax receipt to your estate

A charitable bequest made through your will is a simple and impactful way of giving. It allows you to leave a larger gift to the Mark Preece Family House than may be possible during your lifetime. In your will, you can choose to leave a specific piece of property,

cash, securities, or a percentage of your estate. (Think of us as the `charity child’. If you have two children, you could divide your estate into three – making room for a charitable organization that has made such a difference in people’s lives.)

Leaving a gift to the Mark Preece House is simple. Speak to your lawyer about drafting or revising your will or adding a codicil. Let us know that you have made a bequest so we can thank you today and ensure that

your gift can accomplish what you would like it to do. Our legal name is Hospital Family Houses of Ontario. For information, please call Pearl Wolfe at 905-529-0770.

• Reduction or elimination of estate taxes through careful planning

• An opportunity to honour or memorialize yourself or a loved one

191 Barton Street East, Hamilton, Ontario, L8L 2W7 | P: 905-529-0770 | F: 905-529-9955 | info@markpreecehouse.ca | www.markpreecehouse.ca

FOR TICKETS: 905-529-0770 | info@markpreecehouse.ca | markpreecehouse.ca/beer

All proceeds from the event will go to Mark Preece House. Casual Attire.