One of the brightest lights on our yearly event calendar is the Starlite Ball hosted by the East Kootenay Foundation for Health (EKFH). The event is an amazing opportunity for us at Kootenay Columbia Home Medical Equipment (KCHME) to relax and raise a glass as a team while connecting with other members of our tightly knit East and West Kootenays healthcare community.
Beyond these shared, unforgettable moments, the Ball highlights EHFH’s yearly fundraising campaign which, this year, focuses on the Cranbrook Kimberley Hospice Society (CKHS) and its effort to build a standalone hospice home for our region. The home promises to be an invaluable asset to the community, enabling individuals needing end-of-life care to receive the dignified support they need while being close to their families and loved ones.
It is unfortunate for many hospice patients living in the East and West Kootenays Region that their options are to either spend their final days here in an overcrowded hospital ward or travel to a larger urban centre for end-of-life treatment, uprooting their family in the process. CKHS’s six-bed hospice house will be in the Cranbrook Kimberley area, providing the compassionate support our community has so badly needed.
“Our 2025 Starlite Campaign, our largest campaign of the year, will focus on making this vision a reality,” explained Brenna Hong, executive director with the East Kootenay Foundation for Health. “This Hospice Home will be a true ‘home away from home,’ a place where individuals can spend their final days surrounded by love, dignity, and peace, and where families can share meaningful moments and say goodbye in comfort and care.”
Honoured to be a Presenting Sponsor
KCHME was delighted to once again be a Presenting Sponsor of the Starlite Ball. As a small and independent home medical supplier with store locations in Cranbrook and Castlegar, we have a deep love for where we live and work, and feel strongly about giving back to the communities we call home. This year’s CKHS fundraising initiative touches us deeply because we believe our region is underserviced in healthcare amenities, and see the CKHS’s hospice house as addressing one of these gaps in service.
“We are deeply grateful to have the ongoing support of Kootenay Columbia Home Medical,” continued Ms. Hong. “They understand how important this project is to our community and have been one of our strongest champions. Their generosity and compassion make a real difference in helping us bring projects like this to life. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you to the entire team at Kootenay Columbia Home Medical for always standing beside us and believing in better care, closer to home.”
Speaking from the heart
As the Presenting Sponsor, David Stokes, co-owner of KCHME, was welcomed on stage to share a few words with the event attendees about what the night’s event meant to him and the KCHME team.
“KCHME has worked very closely with the Interior Health Authority Palliative Benefits Program for over 15 years; we provide hospital beds and other equipment to clients who choose to palliate at home,” he explained in his warmup. David then went on to tell a story about how he and Ron, another KCHME team member, were on a service call in Slocan in late November and got stuck in the snow.
With no cell service, they got out of their truck and walked to the closest home to hopefully use its phone and call for a tow. In a story-book-like twist of fate, that home was the address of their service call. The palliative client answered the door and, because he’d had his treatment just the day before, was able to help drive David, Ron and a bunch of chains and shovels in his tractor back to the KCHME truck so they could dig themselves out.
“An hour later, we were back in the client’s driveway delivering his hospital bed and lift chair,” David recalls. “We teased, we joked, we laughed together. It was a great day for all of us. Later that day, the client called back to the store and spoke to Cathie to thank us for our service. He expressed how grateful he was to be treated as one of the boys again, if just for a couple hours.
“We made lasting memories – the kind you just can’t make in the crowds and hustle of a shared hospital room that is part of a busy ward. Not everyone’s journey enables them to palliate at home, but the stories and memories formed at the hospice home will be just as irreplaceable.”
David’s story is a wonderful example of community needing one another, helping one another and succeeding together. We were grateful for our community spirit on that snowy day in Slocan, and again on nights such as the EKFH Starlite Ball.
Useful links for more information
If you were unable to attend the event and would like to contribute to this year’s EKFH fundraising campaign, go to the foundation’s donations page. You can also donate to CKHS directly here. Finally, if you would like to learn more about our palliative services, contact us online and we will respond by email or phone… so we don’t get stuck in the snow.