UPDATE: Hospice Society benefiting from Kindness Meter donations

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“I’ve had a couple of really good experiences with them. They took great care of my mother-in-law in the last few days of her life, and they took very good care of my late wife in the last two weeks of her life a couple years ago.”

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Councillor Kari Gares agreed with the recommendation.

“As somebody whose grandmother passed away in hospice, this is a really great cause and I want to 100 per cent put my support behind it,” she said.

Council voted unanimously in favour of providing the funds to the Hospice Society.

Councillors Kelly Fehr and Akbal Mund did not participate in the discussion, as they are associated with two of the other organizations listed as possible recipients.

The $1,108.45 raised in 2023 was the highest on record since $1,798.66 was collected and gifted to the Upper Room Mission in 2017.

The money collected in 2023 also totaled more than the contributions from the previous three years combined.

— Original Story —

The City of Vernon collected $1,108 in Kindness Meter donations last year, which will be distributed to a local non-profit.

The donations, collected through the five repurposed orange parking meters, will be donated to one of four organizations, at Vernon city council’s discretion.

The potential recipients for the 2023 Kindness Meter contributions, as recommended by city staff, are:

• Kindale Development Association, which provides a range of programs and services to persons with development and other disabilities
• Vernon Native Housing Society, which helps find housing opportunities for Aboriginal and Non-Aboriginal individuals and families
• Turning Points Collaborative Society, organization that provides housing, employment services, shelter and addiction recovery programs
• North Okanagan Hospice Society, group that provides quality end of life care services, including grief and bereavement programs

Council was originally tasked with providing the funds to one of the aforementioned groups at the Jan. 22 regular meeting, but deferred the motion as there were two councillors absent and another two who could not vote due to a perceived conflict of interest, leaving council without the minimum number of votes to make a decision.

Council is set to decide which group receives the funds at the Feb. 12 meeting.

It was also noted that the $1,108 in community donations was the highest total since 2017, when $1,798 was provided to the Upper Room Mission.

The total collections in 2023 also amounted to more than the previous three years combined, which saw donations totaling $266 for the Salvation Army Food Bank in 2022, $318 for the People Place Society in 2021, and $389 for the Archway Society for Domestic Peace in 2020.