Wishes Come True comes through for charity

The Wish Come True Society has shown its support for families staying at JoeAnna’s House with a donation of $56,656.

Since 2012 the organization has worked towards building a pediatric respite/hospice house in Kelowna to help local families with acutely sick children save the time and expense of travelling to Vancouver for medical treatment. The society dissolved in 2020 and its board members made the decision to donate funds earmarked for their project, to JoeAnna’s House.

“We chose JoeAnna’s House as we are confident that our contribution to this great local resource will help to realize our original purpose of supporting children in need by allowing parents to be able to stay close by while their children are receiving advanced medical care at KGH,” said Angie Huber of the Wish Come True Society (WCTS). “On behalf of all of the former board members of WCTS we are pleased to present $56,656.90 to this amazing organization for local families and children facing unimaginable health situations.”

As the lead referral hospital for up to one million residents in the B.C. interior, at any given time, one in four beds at KGH is occupied by someone outside the Central Okanagan. One quarter of the families who have stayed at JoeAnna’s House since opening were there for the purpose of pediatrics and newborns in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

The need for JoeAnna’s House has never been greater.

“For so many families wanting to maintain a presence at KGH for the period of their loved ones treatment, the travel and lack of affordable short-term accommodation in Kelowna adds significantly to their hardship,” remarked Darlene Haslock, Manager of JoeAnna’s House. “Often we see people who arrive in town with no personal belongings; they are completely overwhelmed because of their loved one’s medical situation and the financial drain and emotional burden of trying to find a place to stay during an already difficult time is simply crushing.”

JoeAnna’s House, which opened its doors in November 2019, is located on the KGH campus and provides much-needed short term accommodations for the families of patients from outside the Central Okanagan who must travel to KGH for advanced or specialized medical care.

JoeAnna’s House provides 20 guest bedrooms for out of town families and is managed with a small staff and volunteers and funded entirely by the generosity of donors.