Sustainable giving for exceptional community healthcare

Our Mission

We inspire people to invest in the future of our local healthcare organizations 

Our Values

• Integrity
• Trust
• Accountability
• Donor First
• Respectful Partnerships
• Transparency 

Formerly the St. Francis Memorial Hospital Foundation,  our mission is to advance health care for patients and families in the Madawaska Valley by raising funds to support the facility and capital equipment needs of our non profit healthcare organizations, namely the St. Francis Memorial Hospital, Madawaska Valley Hospice Palliative Care, and Valley Manor Nursing Home.

Although the province funding structure provides for the day to day operation of our health care organizations, capital and building needs are not included in the funding structure . These organizations rely on the Foundation to raise the funds necessary for their needs in order to continue to provide our patients and their families with the best possible care, close to home.

The SFVH Foundation is located at the front entrance of the St. Francis Memorial Hospital. Drop in visits are encouraged and welcomed!!

Our office is open Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.  Donations can be left at the front desk or our drop box  or by donating securely  on line through this website. Alternatively you can give us a call and we will be pleased to assist you!

St. Francis Valley Healthcare Foundation
Toni Lavigne-Conway | Executive Director
Box 129, 7 St Francis Memorial Dr
Barry's Bay, ON KOJ 1B0

Phone: (613) 756-3044, Ext. 333
email: office@sfvhfoundation.com

Registered Charity # 89453 4817 RR0001

“With Covid 19, this coming year will be the “year of unknowns”.  Staff and their teams are looking at new, innovative approaches to ensuring the safety of participants and staff for all events.   We will continue to stay connected with our donors.  We are determined to keep our commitments to our healthcare partners." (Excerpt from our 2019-2020 Annual Report)

Yes, this past year was definitely the year of uncertainty, requiring flexibility, creativity and a whole lot of perseverance.  Covid 19 challenged everyone.  The need for dollars to support our healthcare partners did not diminish, and Foundation staff, partners and volunteers stepped up and accepted the challenge.  In the end, we did deliver on our promise. We stayed connected with our donors and exceeded our revenue target raising over $1.2 million dollars – our highest amount ever!  

The Foundation’s vision is to inspire people to invest in the future of our local healthcare organizations.  We are inspired every day by the generosity and passion of our healthcare community and grateful for their ongoing support. 

Our work is focussed around three strategies designed to move us towards achieving the Foundation’s vision.  In the area of Growing Donor Support:

Our revenue target for 2020-21 was $603K.  We raised over $1.2 Million!   Programs and events were re-vamped to comply with Covid safety requirements. 

• We replaced the lost revenue from cancelling the Butterfly Release with a Direct Mail piece raising over $7,000. Overall $48,000 was raised for the Hospice/Palliative Care Program.
• The Friends of St Francis Golf Tournament was replaced with a Virtual Charity Event and on-line auction. The event raised $34,164 in support of local healthcare including the purchase of evacusleds for the Hospital. 
• Our Virtual Tree of Lights event raised $96,000 – the highest amount ever!  The pre-recorded video program involving Foundation and hospital staff, and community members had over 4000 views on our Facebook page.  Hospital equipment purchased included a VAC Therapy System, an upgrade to the medication dispensing unit, over-bed tables and visitor chairs.
• Our Giving Tuesday match-it program resulted in tripling the amount raised in the one day social media campaign over last year and added new donors to our base.
• Thanks to our vendors, our volunteers and staff, over $392.0K was raised through the Catch the Ace Lottery for the Valley Manor Redevelopment Campaign.  
• We wrapped up a very successful fundraising Campaign for Manor Redevelopment with over $1 Million total raised over the past few years.  And work is now underway for the ER Redevelopment Fundraising Campaign.

The dollars raised by the Foundation were exceptional this past year, yet we have work to do.  Our number of active donors is down by 17%.  While we remain above the national donor retention average, we have dropped from 60% last year to 52% this year.  The reason in part is directly related to Covid 19.  This is concerning and we will be focusing efforts to stabilize and re-build our donor base.

Under Strategic Direction, Build & Develop a High Performing Team, the safety of staff, volunteers and community was a top priority which certainly added additional challenges.

It is amazing that we were able to achieve the above revenue results given that less than three months into her new position, our Executive Director, Erin Gienow and her team were faced with the challenge of packing the office and setting up their home based offices.  Our newly hired Donor Relations Coordinator was only in her job for three weeks.  Yet business continued.  Board Meetings were held on time, appeals to the community for Covid  support were crafted with sensitivity, virtual communication platforms were adopted, staff training continued, annual plans and budgets were modified, the financial audit & AGM deadlines were met all while adapting to working in an entirely different way. 

Although The Bean did not re-open, we have maintained engaged volunteer teams for Catch the Ace, our Virtual Charity Event, Smile Cookie Week and Tree of Lights mail out.  We look forward to reconnecting with all our volunteers in person in the near future.

Our Board is very engaged and as a result, a significant amount of work has been accomplished. By-laws are being reviewed and revised where required, needed policies have been created and others updated.  This work will continue over the coming year.

Strategic Direction #3, Maintaining a Positive Reputation and Continue to Raise the Profile of the Organization was another area where we excelled.

• All events were successful thanks to the strong relationships with our healthcare partners and our volunteer and community support
• The Memorandum of Understandings between the healthcare partners and Foundation were renewed for another five years.
• The needs of our partners during this year of Covid were supported through PPE Appeals, staff appreciation initiatives, thank you videos and more.
• Third Party Events including the KAPOA Virtual Poker Run, Smile Cookie Week, and other fundraising activities exceeded their goals and we were happy to be part of their initiatives.
• The Foundation is an active member of the Madawaska Valley Circle of Health
• In person and virtual attendance at Foundation/third party events/cheque presentations, ongoing donor check-in and appreciation calls and enhanced social media presence

This coming year will continue to pose challenges for our Foundation, yet we are inspired every day by the generosity and passion of our collective healthcare community and grateful for their ongoing support.  Together we are making a difference.

Thank you!

Karen Tierney, Board Chair                                            Erin Gienow, Executive Director

Your Dollars At Work!

Share Your Story….We’d love to hear from you!

If the St. Francis Memorial Hospital, Madawaska Valley Hospice or Valley Manor holds a special place in your heart because of a personal experience or that of a family member or friend, we would love to hear from you!

To share your story and experience, please contact us at:

St Francis Valley Healthcare  Foundation
p: (613) 756-3044 ext 333
or email us at: office@sfvhfoundation.com

Eleanor Adams

Eleanor Adams visited the St. Francis Valley Healthcare Foundation on July 15, 2020 to honour a very important milestone.

Just recently, she celebrated her five-year anniversary of being cancer free, which inspired her to give back to the hospital where her journey first started.

Eleanor and her husband moved to the Valley in 2013. Following a routine mammogram at St. Francis Memorial Hospital in 2015, she received the news that she had early stage breast cancer.

She underwent a mastectomy, followed by another shortly after. The procedures were a success and Eleanor was declared cancer free.

Eleanor prides her early detection at SFMH, along with the knowledgeable staff here at St. Francis, with her quick recovery. She recently made a donation to the Foundation, recognizing every year she has been cancer free.

“I am proud of our little hospital,” she said.

Eleanor’s generous gift will go towards local healthcare including the purchase of critical medical equipment for our hospital.

If you’d like to recognize a special milestone and help local healthcare, call 613-756-3045 ext. 217.

Jacqueline Goodheart: St. Francis Memorial Hospital

Jeanette Wright: Madawaska Valley Hospice Palliative Care

Glen Henneberry: Madawaska Valley Hospice Palliative Care

Margaret Haskin: St. Francis Memorial Hospital

Nelson Hartwick: Valley Manor

Carol Chippior: Valley Manor

Marjorie Mayhew: Valley Manor

Eleanor Stanutz: Valley Manor

Nelson & Joan Leeder

Regular donors since moving to the area many years ago, Nels and Joan Leeder made the decision to look at their investments as a way of future planning for additional support for the Hospital they both valued.

“Nels and I made conscious decision years ago to ensure that we did pre-planning of our assets.We sat down and asked ourselves….what charities are important for us to appreciate and who should benefit from our support?” Their wish to see St. Francis Memorial continue to be strong and sustainable made their decision to leave a gift of securities an easy one. “We recognized the future of this community having a Hospital, close to home. I know Nels would be pleased to know that the support we planned to leave is making a difference. For me, end of life grief was easier to bear knowing that because of our gift, life would be better for others.”

Star of Love

The following message was written by a patient of St. Francis Memorial Hospital. In honour of all who work, volunteer, visit, and have stayed as patients at SFMH, he has registered a star which he calls Star of Love. 

Name of Star: Star of Love

From The Star Registry to allat SFMH.

This star that was purchased, a star that can be seen in the night sky is for a very special Hospital. It is for all who work, visit, volunteer, or had a brief or long stay. It is also to the ones who were not so fortunate but will be remembered in the hearts and minds of those who were either family or friends.

This star is to all the staff that have made many peoples lives both better and their stay memorable and a happy one, including mine.

To the people at SFMH, may you always continue to shine bright for those in need and with just a friendly smile.

P.S. I hope you have a very bright star available so all can see it.

Mercedes the iPad Whiz

The St Francis Memorial Hospital is pleased to offer complimentary online/Wi-Fi access for patients and their families, helping them keep connected to friends, family and community news. Check out patient Mercedes Conway, who is 96 years young and a whiz with her iPad! Way to go Mercedes!!

Emergency Department: St. Francis Memorial Hospital 

Medical Unit: St. Francis Memorial Hospital 

Cardiac Rehabilitation Program: St. Francis Memorial Hospital