​Kincardine Hospital Auxiliary presents $50,000 to foundation; raises $9,000 at Christmas Boutique

The South Bruce Grey Health Centre – Kincardine Hospital Auxiliary was in a festive mood, Wednesday afternoon, as it celebrated another amazing year with a Christmas Luncheon at the Ripley-Huron Legion.

The first order of business, was the presentation of the “Summer Stars” quilt, raffled off at the annual Christmas Boutique and Tea Room last weekend, to winner Liz Dadson of the Kincardine Record. She cheerfully accepted the beautiful quilt from Chris Gravel of the auxiliary.

The Legion Ladies’ Auxiliary provided a delicious turkey dinner, with all the trimmings and a traditional Christmas pudding as one of the desserts.

Joining the group, were special guests Nancy Shaw, president and chief executive officer of the health centre, and Dorne Fitzsimmons, vice-president of the Kincardine and Community Health Care Foundation.

After another exciting year of fund-raising events, the hospital auxiliary was able to present a cheque for $50,000 to the foundation. This money will go toward purchasing an automated CPR machine, a patient bed, disinfectant equipment, floor polisher, and portable suction. Since its first presentation in 1995, the auxiliary has donated $907,255 to the foundation.

Auxiliary president Jeanne Lindsay welcomed everyone and thanked the members for welcoming her to the auxiliary and helping her navigate the job as president.

Shaw thanked the auxiliary for the wonderful work it does in making such a huge difference in the quality of patient care at the hospital.

Fitzsimmons said the foundation really, really appreciates the hard work and dedication of the auxiliary which raises money to help pay for the equipment at the hospital.

Lindsay presided over the regular meeting, and it was noted that the auxiliary has 64 paid members, with a total of 2,751 volunteer hours in 2025. The final item on the agenda was the ceremonial installation of the 2026 executive, performed by Sheila Elliott and Donna Mowry.

Taking over as president is Tracy Capeling, with Lindsay as past-president, Lynda Cerson as first vice-president, Linda Prenger as second vice-president, Angela Thompkins as secretary, Wilma Manary as treasurer, and Liz Nurton as press reporter.

Meanwhile, the auxiliary’s Christmas Boutique and Tea Room, held Nov. 21 and 22, raised $8,908.10, including the boutique sales, bake sale and tea room donations.

The quilt, donated by the Kincardine Sunset Quilters’ Guild, raised $875, alone.

Special thanks to the community for, once again, supporting the hospital auxiliary’s events. The money raised will go toward new and up-to-date equipment at the Kincardine Hospital.