The Bonnyville Royal Canadian Legion stepped up to the plate in a big way last week, donating $15,000 to the Bonnyville Covenant Health Centre so that the facility's emergency department can purchase a much-needed EGC machine.
For years the hospital's emergency department have been forced to “make do with what they have” when it comes to electrocardiography testing, but for Eugie Vachon, an employee at the local health care facility, just simply making do wasn't going to cut it for much longer.
After weighing up her options, Vachon turned to one local organization with a long-standing history of helping those in need, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Speaking to the Nouvelle last week, Vachon explains just how much this new machine will help both the nurses and doctors at the facility and the greater community in general.
“The reason I reached out to the Legion and asked them for this is because, as everybody knows, the (provincial) government doesn't know how to spend its money properly,” Vachon said. “They (flutter) it away instead of putting it where it's needed.
“This machine helps monitor heart rates, blood pressures and the respiratory system. It can tell you whether a patient is in cardiac arrest or worst – this, quite simply, could (be the difference) between life and death for some people,” Vachon added.
After hearing what Vachon had to see, Donna Gamblin, service officer at the local Legion, said it was a “no-brainer” for the organization to step up and help the local health care facility.
“When Eugie came to us to let us know the hospital was in desperate need of money for a new machine for its emergency department, we knew right away what we had to do, so we took it upon ourselves to provide them with the necessary funding,” Gamblin said. “This is something that isn't just going to benefit the hospital, it's going to potentially help (every single resident) that may ever need to use this facility.
She added, “As I understand it, this EGC machine will save lives. How could we not (want to support a purchase) like that.”
For over 50 years the Bonnyville Legion has provided funding to local organizations and projects in need, something Gamblin said she's unsure the public is totally aware of.
“There are so many people out there that don't know exactly what the Legion does,” Gamblin said. “What we're here for, first and foremost, is to help the community. We're a non-profit organization that helps the community out as much as we can, when we can.
“All year around, whenever you see donation boxes (for the Legion), whenever you see us distributing wreaths and poppies, all that money goes right back into the community, usually through donations such as this one to the hospital,” Gamblin added. “If there are people out there, committees or organizations that are in need, come and see us. We'll see what we can do for you.”
This year alone the local organization has thrown $35,000 right back into the community. Although Gamblin, sided by veterans such as Glen Matthews and Rollie Inman, is happy to continue helping the community, she says it's getting to the point where the community needs to give back and help the Legion too.
“The bottom line is, for us to continue doing what we're doing, we need more people in the community to help,” Gamblin said.
Although the local branch currently has roughly 100 members, only “eight or nine” of those regularly take it upon themselves to help out and “do all the things a local Legion should do.”
“It would be nice if we had more members at the Legion, helping us out to help the community out, because, as we stand right now, we're a dying breed,” said Matthews, a 43-year Legion member and former service officer in Bonnyville. “We only have 8 or 9 out of 100 right now coming out. They're the ones raising this money and doing all these great things for the community.”
Gamblin appealed to the local community, particularly the younger population to take it upon themselves and help out an organization that has long prided itself on helping.
“It's funny, I said (we're an organization that helps those that need it) but now, we're in the position (where we're needing a little bit of help),” Gamblin said. “There's so much here. We really need to find a way to get through to people what the Legion is all about – there are so many positions, so many opportunities. There's something for everybody. (We need help), we need (the community) to come out (and help an organization) that has helped (Bonnyville and the greater community) for so long.”
