Lyn & John Rush

"We believe that no matter your situation, you can help others and share what you can. Throughout our life, we volunteered as well as financially supported several local charities and saw the ongoing need ourselves. That’s why when it was time to update our Will, we included a future gift to the Chatham-Kent Hospice Foundation. We hope that our gift will make the lives of future residents and their families a little better in some way by providing a comfortable environment where they can live their last days with the supports they need. Although we will have left this world when this gift is made, it makes us feel wonderful right now knowing that we will continue to help others after we are gone.

The idea of supporting charities after we are gone started when we made our funeral arrangements and included our favourite charities as “charity of choice” for memorial donations. This was also a great opportunity to talk to our children about our choices. We started by sharing our funeral plans and then, when we updated our Will, we told them why we included gifts to our charities. Our children and grandchildren are well aware of our love for these charities and were pleased to learn of the gifts in our Will.

Before we met with our lawyer to update our Will, we met with Jodi from the Chatham-Kent Hospice Foundation and learned more about options to consider and what to ask our lawyer. It was a very comfortable and relaxed visit and made us feel more confident that we were making changes to our Will that benefited both our family and our favourite charities.

We encourage everyone to consider what you can do to help others after you are gone – your family as well as your community. Talk to your loved ones while you can and let them know what you’re thinking. Talk to your favourite charity to understand the ways your future gift will make a difference and the options you have for setting it up.

We hope by sharing our story, others will consider such a gift. Knowing that we have arranged for a gift that keeps on giving after we’re gone is very comforting – very good for the soul!"

John Burgess

“It just feels good to give”

John has left a gift in his will to his favourite charities, including Chatham-Kent Hospice Foundation and it makes him feel good knowing he is helping others.

“After my wife Margory died 3 years ago, I updated my will and included the gifts to my favourite charities as well as providing for my 2 daughters and their family. I don’t consider myself wealthy but I am comfortable living on what I need. You can’t take it with you and it feels good knowing I will continue to help others when I’m gone.

When you get old, you’re not afraid of dying so much as you’re afraid of how you’ll die and where you’ll die. If I can’t die at home, the next best place is Hospice. I have known people who have spent their last days there and they were beautiful. I think it is really important that people who are dying have comfortable surroundings not only for themselves but for their families as well.

For people with limited or no family or for those whose family live far away, Hospice is even more important. It gives me peace of mind knowing my gift will help others have a peaceful end of life.”

Mary Haden

"Upon updating my will I took the opportunity to specify our Hospice as one of the recipients of my life insurance policy. Why did I do this? Well, every time I personally reflect on Donnie’s Hospice stay, each time I drive by the Hospice building and each time the term Hospice comes up in general conversations, my mind and heart are flooded with positive, uplifting memories of our final month together. I simply want our Hospice to continue to be a vital part of our community so that when their services are needed, other families can experience the attentive care, quality support and outpouring of love that Donnie and I received."