Hospice Wellington's fundraising campaign continues to surpass all expectations.
When first officially launched in December of 2015 the fundraising goal for the palliative care and support organization was $2.5 million.
On Thursday they announced that to date the Futures Campaign has raised just over $3.5 million, just $480,000 shy of the revamped $4 million goal.
Campaign chair Darryl Vaz said at a campaign update breakfast that 75 per cent of the fundraising has come from individual donors.
Families such as the Estills, the MacPhersons, Ted and Bob Woods' families and the Ireland family have been instrumental in helping raise enough money quickly that the Hospice Wellington building on Scottsdale Drive has been able to pay off its mortgage.
Thursday's event included the unveiling of a plaque recognizing the naming of the building's residents' level as The Robert Ireland Family Residence Level.
Hospice Wellington Executive Director Todd Fraleigh said the generosity of the community is allowing them to "do some new things," including branch out into the community.
Fraleigh said the 10-bed residential unit looked after 300 individuals in the past year, making Hospice Wellington "the number one performing residential program in the province, maybe the country."
The question now, Fraleigh said, is to figure out how to expand palliative care into the surrounding area "because we know the need is growing."
"We're not serving the need that we need to in the rural area," Fraleigh said.
A feasibility study is looking into perhaps providing palliative care beds in the rural areas of Wellington County.
"We need to do more than we are," Fraleigh said.
