The closure of the Foodland grocery store in St. Clements didn’t stop the Paradise and District Lions Club from raising more money than ever before for its annual Tree of Light. The club raised $7,052.20 for Innisfree House, a new 10-bed residential hospice in Kitchener that will offer end-of-life care once it’s completed.
![The 2014 Tree of Light. [Submitted]](https://www.observerxtra.com/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/post_news_treeoflight.jpg)
Janet Pfaffinger said the decision to give the money to Innisfree House was an easy one.
“In past years we were giving to local charities, and this time we thought all of us are touched by cancer and this was a new venture for them, Innisfree House,” Pfaffinger said. “And we thought what a great charity to donate toward.”
The club used to primarily sell the bulbs for the tree at the St. Clements Foodland, so when it closed they thought they’d be lucky, but thrilled to raise $5,000.
Instead they sold the bulbs at an assortment of local businesses and locales such as the arena.
“We had very generous donors,” Pfaffinger said. “In fact we had 21 people or businesses give over the $50 mark. A lot of them gave $200 or $100, very generous this year. And I think people realized our predicament also that we didn’t have Foodland to sell our bulbs from.”
She said they don’t know specifically where the money will go at this point, but they’re raising funds to build the building and do the interior. They raised the most money they ever have this year, since starting the initiative six years ago.
“When we first started the Tree of Light in 2008 we took in $3,506 and every year it has increased substantially and as you can tell from 2008 we’re now double that amount,” Pfaffinger said. “The Lions members were simply stunned by the amount of money we raised. No one expected quite that much so we were just delighted.”
She said they had forewarned the people at Innisfree House they might not raise as much this year because their main venue was gone, so they were also pleasantly surprised but yet very grateful.
“I think people realize we’re putting the donations toward very important charities and I think people have come to know what the Tree of Light represents for St. Clements and the surrounding area,” Pfaffinger said. “I think people just realize it’s an important charity, an important campaign that we’re conducting.”
Lisaard House in Cambridge has six beds and can’t keep up with the demand for palliative care patients. Innisfree House is working to raise $4.4 million from the community and will rely on the community to provide more than 50 per cent of its annual operating costs.
Connie Dwyer, executive director of Innisfree House, lit the tree. Bulbs were sold for $5 each, or $50 for a string of bulbs. Donations over $50 lit the star and anyone who donated $50 or more received advertising as an official thank you. The bulbs were bought in memory of or to honour a loved one, and the names were read aloud at the tree lighting ceremony.
“I’d like to thank everyone for their kind and caring generosity because without the people and the businesses our campaign would not be nearly as successful as it has been,” Pfaffinger said.
