More than $50,000 raised for hospice care in Cowichan by Enrico Winery & CHEK News’ the Upside
The Vancouver Island community showed their generous spirit once again last week, when Enrico Winery and CHEK News’ the Upside joined forces to raise money to support hospice care in the Cowichan Valley.
The Upside has become a much loved segment on CHEK Newscasts since its inception at the start of the pandemic. With few sporting events happening, Jeff King and the rest of the CHEK News sports department, alongside Ed Bain, work together to highlight positive stories in our local island communities.
Lorin Inglis, GM of Enrico Winery was approached by the Upside team wanting to do a segment and Inglis was inspired to make it extra special by giving back to a local cause – Cowichan Hospice. “Cowichan Hospice deserves as much local support as they can get,” Inglis shared. “It’s these kind of organizations that are there in your time of need and any and all help we give is a small way to pay back.”
Viewers of the March 10th 5:00 PM and 6:00 PM news were encouraged to call in or make a donation online to be entered into one of four draws.
“Our hope was to raise something in the $10,000 range,” shared Inglis, “and as usual, Upside viewers and Enrico supporters blew that number out of the water within 15 minutes of the segment airing. By the end of the night we had raised in excess of $50,000.”
Cowichan Hospice staff answering the phone lines were shocked at the volume of calls. “Within seconds of the segment airing, all of our phone lines were ringing off the hook and remained that way for at least three hours,” Zoe Lauckner, Communications Coordinator for Cowichan Hospice shared. “The generosity was just incredible – there were laughs, stories and memories shared, tears shed, and just so much love expressed from our community. We are so grateful for the support.”
Within 4 hours, individuals had donated more than $50,000 to support hospice care.
These funds will be used to provide compassionate hospice services to people from the Cowichan region. CowichanHospice offers one-to-one and group grief support, as well as providing care for those facing end-of-life and their families. The organization also recently celebrated the opening of the new Cowichan Hospice House in November of 2020 – a 10 bed hospice facility and the first of it’s kind in the region.
Cowichan Hospice is a registered charity that has been providing compassionate support to the Cowichan community for 40 years, thanks to the generous support of the community.
