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Heron Terrace PSW urges other LTC communities, businesses to start their own ‘Hero’ program
Kim Deslippe says if others replicated the Heron Heroes initiative, it would make a ‘huge difference’ to others
7/6/2018
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Deron Hamel
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Heron Terrace team members Lisa Harris and Kim Deslippe are pictured here after receiving S&R’s Community Service Award.
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Heron Terrace personal support worker (PSW) Kim Deslippe says the Windsor long-term care community’s Heron Hero program, which hosts fundraisers to help others, is an example of what a workplace can do to make a difference in a local community. And she’s urging other workplaces in Windsor and beyond to create a similar initiative.
Currently, the Heron Heroes are working on a project to raise money for a one-year-old boy named Logan and his family. Logan is awaiting a heart transplant in Toronto, and his mother is staying at Toronto’s Ronald McDonald House when she’s in the city during her son’s treatment. The money the Heron Heroes raise is helping Logan’s family offset costs associated with his treatment.
In June alone the Heron Heroes raised $1,800 through fundraisers, including coffee mug and T-shirt sales, and the team has plenty more activities planned for the remainder of 2018.
“I want people to know about this type of program,” Kim tells S&R Today. “If every business picked up one child that’s in this situation and gave the parents that little extra boost it would make a huge difference. Finances should never be an issue” for the families of children receiving medical treatment, she adds.
So Kim, who, along with housekeeping department staff member Lisa Harris, recently received Steeves & Rozema’s 2018 Community Service Award for fundraising initiatives at Heron Terrace, has a challenge for other Windsor long-term care communities and businesses.
“I would like to see other nursing homes or other businesses in the area (start a similar program),” she says. “The biggest payoff right now would be to get more heroes in a program like this.”
Looking ahead, Kim says the Heron Heroes are going to be searching for opportunities to help other children and families in the Windsor area.
“Every year we will choose a different child from the Windsor area who is in critical condition in hospital or needing long-term treatment,” she says.
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