The McCulloch family has been a strong supporter of the Sudbury hospice, ever since Stephen McCulloch's life was cut short by a terminal illness.
The McCulloch family, along with hundreds of other Sudbury families, gathered Sunday at the Grace Hartman Amphitheatre to raise funds for the hospice.
Montana McCulloch remembers the warm smiles and friendly faces of the staff when she would visit her father.
“The hospice helped my father live his life with dignity, as well as provided support to my family and me, support that we didn't even know we needed,” Montana said.
The members of hospice left a lasting mark on Montana, who decided against joining the family auto dealership business and instead enrolled in a nursing program.
Montana now works as a personal support worker at Maison McCulloch Hospice.
Similar to the McCulloch family many other Sudbury families whose lives have been touched by the hospice marched to honour the memories of their loved ones.
“This is a tradition of generosity and community, where roughly 500 – 1,000 hikers are coming together to raise funds of hospice and its expansion,” Gerry Lougheed, chair of Sudbury Hospice Foundation said.
The foundation hoped to raise $150,000, which would be doubled by philanthropist Lily Fielding.
“Today we have the capacity to raise $300,000 which will likely be historic to all of Canada of all the palliative care hikes,” Lougheed said.
Lougheed added the funds raised would be instrumental in the ongoing expansion project as well as assist in paying for the daily operational costs.
“We need to raise a million dollars every year for the facility to stay operational, with the $300,000 raised today will be a wonderful instalment to the operating costs,” Lougheed said.
Check out our photo gallery for some of the moments from the hike for hospice.
