the last... Tour de Gabriola

The weather held out yesterday, and it was a fantastic day for the final tour de Gabriola.  It's hard to believe that it was 7 years ago that Randi and I rode in the Good Heart Ride which raised much necessary funds for a defibrillator.

The following year, the Tour de Gabriola was created to start to raise money for the Gabriola Health Care society & over the years raise money it did nearly $25,000.  With the clinic nearing completion, this was the last year of the ride.

It was absolutely amazing to be there in the beggining and finishing it up yesterday!  The organizers and volunteers did an amazing job.  I'm so glad for the opportunity to participate.

Congratulations Gabriola - Semi-Finalists in the Aviva Community Fund Competition...

The dedicated volunteers of the Gabriola Health Care Society have proclaimed the year 2010 to be The Year of the Clinic and are committed to raising $1,000,000 to develop and build a permanent community owned emergency treatment and medical care facility. We believe that a permanent, community owned, ecologically friendly, seismically-engineered and technologically advanced emergency treatment room will provide a desirable long-term solution to the health care needs of our increasing population.

Part of their fundraising efforts included applying to the Aviva Community fund, which offers a chance to share in the $500,000. The voting ensures that it is the most popular ideas as chosen by Canadians, the top “25” most voted on will go to the “judging” finals. Gabriola’s request to the Aviva Community Fund is in the range of $250,000 to cover the costs of the emergency treatment room for this facility. You can view, a complete history of the Gabriola Health Care Society . Gabriola is now be amongst the semi-finalists with the vote counters having been reset to 0, this semi-final runs until Dec 16th. Thank you Gabriolans and all the voters from around the world – be ready to start voting again Dec 2nd you can vote here! (Just a reminder that you can vote every day!!!)

You can see why the Lynch’s are casting our votes daily, and why we appreciate the excellent health care service here on the island at our: Discover Gabriola Blog .

Gabriola Island Emergency Care Facility- it gets my vote (daily)!

On June 24 2008 my husband was driving along North Road on Gabriola at just after 10pm. His vehicle was pulling a trailer and in a quick moment his instincts had him swerve for a deer, sending the SUV into a tree and across the road (yes, you should never swerve for a deer). Frequently, the roads on Gabriola at this time of night are very quiet, he was lucky to have someone on the scene quickly who called 911.
The firefighters (many of whom are first responders) had just ended practice when they got the call, which allowed them to be on the scene within minutes. We also have the fortune of having Dr. Bosman live on the Island, he also was on the scene in a short time as were the local RCMP. The advanced life support team was sent from Nanaimo, and a request was put in for a helicopter evacuation. I heard the sirens from the rental we had while we renovated, and knew that I was about to receive a dreaded phone call. While they worked on stabilizing my husband for transport, other firefighters set up the Rollo/McClay ball field for a helicopter landing. During this time, the heli-vac team also had a call to respond to on Vancouver Island and for a time that call was going to have priority, 3 hours after the crash the heli-vac team had set my husband as priority, and he was being transported with the life support team to Victoria General Hospital. At the hospital his spleen ruptured and they lost his vital signs twice, after days in the Intensive Care Unit he was considered to be in stable condition.
With broken ribs, punctured lungs and a splenectomy he began his long road of recovery. We strongly feel, that had priorities on the helicopter not been changed and if he was transported on the harbor patrol vessel, he wouldn’t be here to parent his kids today. Even on a calm night, his spleen would surely have ruptured on that vessel.
We have the resources on the Island; our Paramedics, Doctors and First Responders have outstanding knowledge, but they need somewhere to treat patients.
If you have a minute, please take the time to vote for the Gabriola Island Emergency Care Facility. You can vote daily, you only need to fill in your name and email address to register and we may just get $250,000 funding for this facility.
Voting for this round closes on Nov. 29, please ask anyone around you to take a minute to do this. (submitted by: Tina Lynch)

We won, everyone's a winner!

The Gabriola Health Care Society collected 3 beautiful handmade glass pieces from local artists to auction off in their Auxillary raffle. Volunteers were busy this summer selling raffle tickets at the Gabriola Farmers Market and at the Village Medicine Center and raised $3,900. We we’re lucky enough to receive a phone call letting us know we had won this beautiful platter made by Jill Adamson. I’m a bit nervous to take home such a beautiful piece of work, but looking forward to enjoying it in our home.