Burnaby Hospice Society in partnership with Ocean View Funeral Home, invite you remember your loved ones by helping us light a Christmas tree at our 7th annual Tree of Lights.

In memoriam lights are now available by donation. Every light comes with a laminated card that can be personalized with the name of your loved one. Cards will be displayed on the tree from December 1 – 31, 2011.

All proceeds will benefit the Society to support our critical work of providing compassionate care to individuals and families during the end-of-life journey.

Come and share this special evening of remembrance with family, friends and your community. The event will include refreshments and features the Metro Vancouver Firefighters Band and a guest appearance from the Burnaby Firefighters who will assist in the lighting of the tree.

This is an outdoor event so please dress warmly.

Amid enthusiastic cheeering from the crowd, Society and thrift store volunteers modeled outfits from the thrift store and demonstrated that great style can be found for great prices – the second time around!

The event was a great success and raised over $1,700 to benefit the Society in support of our mission to provide compassionate care to individuals and families during the end-of-life journey.

Our thanks to all who joined us for the event. We look forward to seeing you next year at our 3rd annual fashion show.

For event pictures, please click here.

After 25 years, much has changed. We now have a small dedicated staff team that directs and coordinates the involvement of almost 200 volunteers who collectively gave over 24,000 hours of their time in the last year. We have a social enterprise which continues to generate a significant portion of the Society’s operating revenue every year and we have established a firm reputation within Burnaby as an active organization dedicated to building a better community.

What hasn’t changed after 25 years is the Society’s Vision to ensure that no one in Burnaby needs to go through the end-of-life journey alone. In each of the last two years, the Society has served over 800 people a year through our hospice palliative care and bereavement programs. All our services continue to remain free of charge and we accept referrals from anyone.

To mark the Society’s 25th anniversary, we are pleased to unveil our brand new logo and website.

Like our old logo, our new one depicts a hand and a butterfly symbolizing the support and care we provide during the transition between life and death. However, unlike our old logo, where the butterfly is cupped by two gentle hands, our new logo depicts the butterfly as it is about to take flight.

This is a subtle creative change, but very important because as our Society continues to grow, evolve and adapt to changing community needs, our core principles and dedication to our Vision will never change. That is why some elements of our old logo have been preserved; they are a part of our past and at the foundation of what guides us today and in the future. Please look for our logo as we begin to phase in its use over the next year.

Our new logo and website were developed in partnership with the talented and philanthropic marketing team of Possibility Holdings, a leading provider of warranty and insurance solutions for the automotive and consumer products industries headquartered in Vancouver.

In honour of the Society’s silver anniversary, we are also planning a number of exciting activities which will take place over the next year to celebrate our 25 years of service to the Burnaby community and we look forward to being able to share more details of these activities as they draw closer.

Although this represents an exciting and historic time for the Society, it also continues to be business as usual as we remain focused on our Mission of providing compassionate care to individuals and families during the end-of-life journey. Your ongoing trust, support and commitment have made us into the organization we are today and we will never lose sight of that.

For pictures of our 25th anniversary celebratory reception, please click here.

The following members were elected to the Board:
•   Eleanor Joughin (incumbent)
•   Martin Mroz

We bid a fond farewell and offer our warm thanks to departing Board member Allan Joyce who will continue his volunteer role with the Society’s thrift store.  We also thank all Society members, volunteers and guests who attended the AGM for your ongoing support.

The event was well attended by the Burnaby community and included the Mayor, Derek Corrigan who expressed his heartfelt appreciation of the work done by the Society during the event’s celebration dinner.

“It was wonderful to see the community so wholeheartedly embrace the Golf Classic,” said Diana Li, Executive Director of BHS. “And the most rewarding aspect is that through the help of very generous sponsors and event participants, a significant amount of money was raised to help the Society ensure that no one in Burnaby needs to go through the end-of-life journey alone.”

The Burnaby Hospice Society sincerely thanks the many participants, volunteers, partners and contributors who made our 1st Annual Golf Classic such a success.