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General News · 22nd August 2024
Margaret Verschuur
In British Columbia, it's legal and meaningful for families to care for their loved ones at home after death. Friends and family members can sit with, wash, dress, and tend to the body, build a casket, make funeral arrangements, and transport the body to its final resting place. This is a tradition rooted in community, where neighbours and loved ones once shared the responsibilities of death care. The volunteers at Cortes Island DeathCaring Collective, your friends and neighbours, continue this tradition by offering our knowledge, compassion, and hands-on support to families in need.

Cortes Community-Led Death Care has been guiding and assisting the community since 2020. So far this year, we've had the honour of supporting six families in creating personal, respectful, and meaningful end-of-life experiences. Providing this kind of care requires significant time, skill, and emotional investment. While our volunteers are at the heart of this service we recognize that, to be sustainable, those who take on significant on-call roles need to be compensated for their time and expertise.

Moving forward, we will ask families to contribute financially to support this important work. However, we are deeply committed to ensuring that no one is turned away due to financial limitations.

The donations from the Care for Cortes Fundraiser will create a fund to assist families with limited resources and to support the training of our volunteers.

If you feel called to contribute, your support will make a meaningful difference in our community. Please consider donating through the Cortes Island Community Foundation at www.cortesfoundation.ca/donate-now/, selecting “Death, Disability & Elder Care” as the tax-deductible recipient. Alternatively, you can e-transfer funds to moneystewardislanddeathcare.ca, or mail a cheque to Island Death Care Society, PO Box 313, Mansons Landing, B.C. V0P 1K0. Thank you.