Stark Family Fund celebrates 10 years of giving

Stark Fund grant recipients met at the Wellington Library. Monica Alyea photo

The Stark Family Fund Committee celebrated 10 years of giving in Prince Edward County  presenting $52,589 to be shared among a dozen organizations.

The Stark sisters, who were lifelong residents of Bloomfield and area, wanted to continue to help the community they loved after they passed away.  Through a bequest of more thab $1.3 million to the Community Foundation for Kingston & Area, the Stark Family Fund was established. Since this endowment fund began granting in 2004, it has awarded 131 grants to 59 organizations totaling $574,374.

Recipients of the grants have included social, educational, cultural, recreational and other organizations.

The 12 grants totaling $52,589 presented at the Wellington Library for 2014 and their background information:

Trenton Memorial Hospital Foundation, Operation: Cutting Edge Technology: $5,000
Medical technology in the operating rooms and ambulatory clinics at Quinte Health Care (QHC) has not evolved since 1996. Our project, a new Information Technology (IT) system, will greatly enhance services for patients, their families and our healthcare professionals. Annually at QHC we service 11,200 surgical cases, do over 7,200 minor surgical procedures, complete 11,900 endoscopies and 370 caesarean births. All of these procedures will be greatly enhanced with the implementation of the new IT system that will provide quality monitoring, service planning, health record integration, access and wait time targets, clinical and material resource workflow and improved patient navigation from the time they decide to have surgery in the doctor’s office.

Prince Edward County Memorial Hospital Foundation, Telemetry Unit Upgrade: $20,000
The Prince Edward County Memorial Hospital Foundation is raising funds for telemetry equipment. This is an urgently needed upgrade for cardiac monitoring on PECM Hospital’s inpatient unit. Telemetry, which is the constant monitoring of your heart rhythm, benefits a variety of patients at PECMH. There are three designated beds where patients can be attached to a stationary cardiac monitor as well as four portable monitors (telemetry units), and these units are heavily used. Updating this equipment will not only benefit patients living with heart disease, it will monitor those admitted with heart attacks, angina, congestive heart failure and those before and after heart surgery.

Quinte Educational Museum and Archives Inc., Expansion of Summer Educational Programming: $1,500
Quinte Educational Museum and Archives is in the process of developing a centre that will provide students, researchers, and visitors with an interative display that provides an in-depth understanding of education throughout the history of the Quinte region.  A subject matter expert will research and create innovative and diverse activities for student learning. Funds from the Stark Family Fund would assist with the purchase of technology to enhance the presentation of the material, program materials for students and promotion.

Wellington Auxiliary Rescue Association, Marine First Aid Training: $750
Wellington Auxiliary Rescue Association (WARA) will train five volunteer crew members in Marine First Aid. WARA operates a marine search and rescue service based in Wellington harbor covering the Canadian portion of Lake Ontario from Main Duck Island to Nicholson Island. The marine specific training will enhance the ability of the rescue boat crews to respond to any medical emergency which might arise when dispatched by Joint Rescue Coordination Center, CFP Trenton to the assistance of boaters in distress.

Canadian Diabetes Association, Camp for Children with Type 1 Diabetes: $3,200
For almost 60 years, children in Prince Edward County with Type 1 diabetes have been attending a special medical camp by the Canadian Diabetes Association called Camp Banting. A unique place for chronically ill children, camp teaches these youth how to avoid diabetes complications that can lead to a painful and premature death. It is the only camp of its kind in Canada for local children (ages 7-15) with type 1 diabetes. Diabetes is a chronic disease without a cure. When not managed properly, it can lead to cardiovascular disease, kidney disease, blindness and amputation. This medical camp teaches children proper diabetes management in a safe and relaxed setting. Camp teaches children about balancing proper nutrition, physical activity and insulin in a supervised and fun environment. Camp Banting is the highlight of the year for many children with diabetes. The grant will help to subsidize Camp Banting for 4 children from Prince Edward County.

The Prince Edward County Community Care for Seniors Association, Helping Seniors Get Around: $4,899
Prince Edward Community Care has provided seniors with escorted transportation to medical appointments and essential shopping for 25+ years, yet many still do not know it is available to them. This grant will pay for promotion to seniors and their caregivers and will also include volunteer recruitment.

Festival Players of Prince Edward County Inc., Festival Players Young Company 2014: $3,000
The 2014 Festival Players Young Company Program would include six youth (15-24 years old) from the Prince Edward County community in a professional theatre immersion during July and August 2014. The program has two components: 1) Young Company Members create a show for children through a professional rehearsal and performance process, debut the show in Bloomfield, and tour the show across Prince Edward County; and, 2) Members learn from visiting professional artists in a series of instructional workshops and mentorship opportunities.

County of Prince Edward Library, Creating Change: $1,890
The Stark Family Fund grant would be used by the County of Prince Edward Public Library & Archives to purchase and install a horizontal baby changing stations in the remaining four branches of the library that currently do not have one: Consecon, Ameliasburgh, Bloomfield and Wellington. As a library system, we are anticipating the needs of our patron population. The addition of these changing stations would help all libraries in the County to provide safe, comforting and functional environments that meet the needs of all age groups.

Hospice Prince Edward, Complementary Therapy Program: $2,800
Hospice Prince Edward is researching, planning and implementing an integrated complementary therapy program for clients in the community visiting program and for the residents of the Community Residential Hospice Home. Research could include travel to other hospices with established complementary therapy programs, attendance at conferences with a complementary therapy component, and bringing specialists in the field on site to Prince Edward County. As the result of this research and planning, a pilot project could be established which will provide complementary therapies to clients and residents. This program would be evaluated for effectiveness in consideration of an ongoing complementary therapy program for Hospice Prince Edward.

Prince Edward County Skating Club, PECSC Skating Program Improvement Project: $2,800
Dartfish is a state-of-the-art video software that is used as a learning tool by coaches during lessons with skaters to improve skaters’ performance. Dartfish can enhance the effectiveness of lessons through communication between coaches and skaters by giving skaters immediate video feedback, by enhancing video analysis, and by sharing  video content through an online platform. The grant will cover costs of purchasing Perpetual Dartfish ProSuite.

Bloomfield Centre for Creativity, Program Development 2014: $1,000
We are developing a full range of arts and educational spring, summer, and fall programs for the centre. We invite a variety of experienced instructors/leaders to participate in their areas of interest. The grant will pay for art course materials.

Rotary Club of Picton, Picton Scholarships: $5,750
This grant represents the five annual scholarships that will be awarded by the Rotary Club of Picton to individuals who are attending post-secondary facilities in the fall.