Farming for Hospice receives generous support

Posted on: Staff Writer

From edition: October 11 2019 Strathmore Times

By Adelle Ellis, Times Reporter

Chinook Financial donated $1,500 to the Wheatland and Area Hospice Society’s Farming for Hospice Standard fundraiser after reading an article about the initiative in the Strathmore Times. Gerry Kroon, WAHS director (l-r) and Kimberley Sharkey-Thompson, branch manager of Strathmore Chinook Financial hold a giant donation cheque on Sept. 18. Photo Courtesy of Chinook Financial

Chinook Financial donated $1,500 to the Wheatland and Area Hospice Society’s Farming for Hospice Standard fundraiser after reading an article about the initiative in the Strathmore Times. Gerry Kroon, WAHS director (l-r) and Kimberley Sharkey-Thompson, branch manager of Strathmore Chinook Financial hold a giant donation cheque on Sept. 18.
Photo Courtesy of Chinook Financial
The Wheatland and Area Hospice Society’s (WAHS) Farming for Hospice fundraiser is one step closer to reaching its goal and completing the inaugural year of the innovative fundraiser.
Chinook Financial Credit Union in Strathmore donated $1,500 to the Farming for Hospice program, amounting to the equivalent of purchasing five acres worth of crop inputs.
The program has sold 133 acres worth of crop inputs out of the total 160 acres for the wheat crop.
The credit union read about the Farming for Hospice fundraiser in an article in the Strathmore Times. Strathmore Branch Manager and Regional Branch Manager Kimberley Sharkey-Thompson said the credit union “was perusing the Strathmore Times a couple weeks ago and read the Farming for Hospice article. We felt a connection to this group and made a decision to donate.”
She added that Chinook Financial investing in its community is an investment in themselves as the grant programs and branch donations they make are focusing on spurring its development and keeping local money circulating within Strathmore.
“When we heard farms are generously donating their crop revenue, it resonated with the credit union’s values of ‘acting local’ and it felt right to support these local farmers who are making money make a difference in the way they know how,” said Sharkey-Thompson.
Several local area businesses have donated both money for the acres and also supplied services and inputs, such as seed, chemicals and grain transportation, necessary to grow the crop.
“Between these generous businesses and the many individuals who have helped, the project is a huge success,” said Gerry Kroon, director for WAHS and part of the capital fundraising committee.
Parflesh Farms, which donated the 160 acres of land to be farmed, was fortunate in their timing to harvest the crop just before the early snowfall at the end of September. Despite a very dry summer, the wheat crop yielded 59 bushels per acre.
Although the crops have been harvested, WAHS hopes to sell the remaining 27 acres of crop inputs by the end of October. Anyone wishing to donate an acre of inputs, worth $300, can visit the WAHS website at wheatlandhospice.ca, or by contacting Kroon via phone at 403-471-6473.
Due to the success of the fundraiser and how inclusive it is, WAHS plans on hosting a similar Farming for Hospice fundraiser in at least one of the other communities in the area next year.