The Founder Fund is named in honour of our 3 founding members.
For the first 26 years Ostomy Halifax had few resources. Modest revenue came from donations, fund raising and fees. Principal expense items were the cost of distributing the newsletter and donations to hospitals to ensure needy new ostomates left the hospital with supplies. Much of the remainder was spent on education.
Starting in 2000, Ostomy Halifax received three testamentary bequests. Our income tripled and the Society now found itself in a position to accomplish much more. Funds have been available to send young ostomates from all four Atlantic provinces to special youth camps in Alberta (Camp Horizon) and Nova Scotia (Camp Brigadoon); to supplement the cost of education expenses for nurses wishing to take specialized ostomy nurse training; to make a financial contribution and ostomy supplies to Friends of Ostomates Worldwide Canada, a charity that ships ostomy supplies to third world countries. In the last several years we have also been traveling to ostomy groups in Nova Scotia and PEI to provide certified volunteer visitor training for those undergoing ostomy surgery in areas outside of Halifax. For new ostomates to see and talk to those who continue to live normal, productive and active lives is often an important start to a new beginning.
So much more needs to be done in the fields of public awareness, support, program funding and reaching out to those ostomates who refuse to "come out of the bathroom".
