Gord and Barb Broda could see just how important the Rose Garden Hospice is to Prince Albert, and that’s what spurred their latest donation.
The two Prince Albert entrepreneurs were at the construction site on Friday to donate $300,000 to the project. The donation brings the project one step closer to completion.
“Barb and I both know what the Hospice means to the community and really feel it is just another facility that’s very needed,” Gord said. “We are certainly happy to contribute and be part of it.
“We have all had some personal experiences losing a parent or losing a loved one and I think people really appreciate what Hospice is going to provide.”
Gord said the facility will offer more private surroundings for families to gather and spend one last moment with a loved one.
Funding committee chair Marina Mitchell said they knew about the donation, and the total number has already been accounted for in their fundraising. They were just waiting for a nice day to have the photo at the actual construction site.
“We are really close to our $4 million goal and our 2 X 6 fundraiser is going really well,” she said. “We have to date sold about 240 so by the end of the month we hope have the 300 2 X 6s sold.
The 2 X 6 fundraiser partnership with Econo Lumber sees planks available as a way to donate to the Hospice.
People who buy a board will have their donation recognized, including a certificate of where in the hospice their board is. Donations are also tax deductible.
The building is already noticeably rising in the background for everyone to see. Mitchell said they were pleased with the progress.
“It’s wonderful that construction is well on its way,” she said.
“It’s incredible to see the building in the ground,” Broda added. “I’m not clear on when the opening day will be but there is certainly progress being made and we are on the way.”
There have been challenges since construction started, primarily due to the weather. Building committee chair Don Dashchuk said the cold winter weather has been difficult to deal with.
“The weather has held us back,” he said. “We are happy with the way things have been going, but we were fighting the weather, the snow and the cold. It has been an interesting year.”
The facility’s basement is already completed, and steel beams are in place. The roof system and other materials are already on site.
“We are real happy with the way things are going here,” Dashchuk said.
They expect things to really move along in the next couple of months.
“It will start to look like we are really working here in the next couple of months. It will really take shape,” Dashchuk said.
Dashchuk is the husband and Mitchell is the daughter of the late Rose Dashchuk, who the project is named after. With the building rising it is finally coming to fruition.
‘It is unbelievable, this is a dream come true. We are so thankful to our board. Nobody gave up and everybody just kept plugging along. We have probably run into everything that we could possibly run into but we overcame everything,” Dashcuk said.
“It is such as worthy project.”
Broda is the owner and manager of the Broda Group, a heavy civil construction company started by his father Cas in 1957. It has grown to serve communities from across Canada, from B.C. to Ontario.
