The Huronia Hospitals Foundation and local hospitals truly appreciate the major support received each year. Annually 70 to 80 percent of donations and fundraising revenue is used for technology, medical equipment and major building renovations. The other revenue is used to: inspire awareness about hospital services and needs through public and media relations; fund 50 per cent of the salary of the recruitment and marketing officer; provide grants to hospital staff for continuing education; and, cover the fundraising costs needed to meet growing hospital needs.

Foundation operations include:

  • annual fundraising of $500,000 for capital equipment, technology and building improvements not covered by the Ministry of Health

  • fundraising for 50 % of capital costs of new services such as dialysis/ambulatory care projects (50 % is provided by the government in most cases)

  • promoting the benefits of Planned Giving to the hospitals and charities in North Simcoe as part of the North Simcoe Planned Giving Committee. Estate bequests are the most popular planned giving vehicle in the US and Canada and locally, cover one fifth or more of the hospitals’ annual needs

  • providing public and media relations, internal and external communications and marketing for Foundation programs and events, and the services our hospitals provide to the community

  • supporting the critical need for physicians and other health care professionals

The Huronia Hospitals Foundation and local dialysis patients continue to benefit from the RCMP Musical Ride held in August 2000 by the Rotary Club of Penetanguishene. More than 5,000 people attended the reknowned RCMP performance and following the event the Club donated $20,000 to dialysis campaign. In September, 2001 the Club, represented here by President Tony Orecchio, gave an additional $5,700 to dialysis patients and staff, bringing the total gift to $25,700.

A Gift For Today

ALL donations play an important role in our efforts to maintain and improve the high quality care provided to patients at Huronia District Hospital and Penetanguishene General Hospital. Undesignated donations and other fundraising assets are put to use annually to pay for capital equipment and building projects not fully funded by the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care. This year $550,000 from donations, revenue from special events such as our annual fashion show or past assets is being put back into the hospitals.

There are several ways you can make a gift today that will almost immediately help make a difference to the care provided to patients in our hospitals.

  • An unsolicited and unrestricted gift by cheque, money order or cash mailed or hand delivered to either hospital. (Please do not mail cash.)
  • A response to our annual Christmas appeal letter, discharged patient letter or newsletter. If you wish to be put on our mailing list please contact the Foundation office at either hospital.
  • An in-memory donation, in appreciation of services gift, or tribute donation honouring a loved one, or special anniversary, wedding or birthday of family or friends.
  • A gift of appreciated securities (stocks) easily transferred by your financial institution to ours. The federal government has just announced it will make the current capital gains savings on donated publicly traded securities permanent. This means you will receive a tax credit for 50 per cent of capital gains of stocks donated to the Foundation. You also receive a charitable receipt for the full market value of the stocks on the day they are received. You may wish to speak to your financial advisor about the benefits of making a gift of securities versus an outright gift of cash.
  • A gift in kind donation such as an item to be used as a prize for a raffle, golf tournament etc.

In most cases, unless you have specifically designated your donation to a certain department or project, your gift for today will be used for equipment or furniture replacement, the purchase of new technology or renovations to our buildings. Below, starting with Huronia District Hospital, are examples of the PRIORITY patient care upgrades and new equipment your undesignated donation is funding this year. All of these items and projects directly affect the patients who use our hospitals by direct patient use or by enhancing our facilities for visitors and our experienced staff.

ANNUAL CAPITAL BUDGET NEEDS

A gift towards the on-going equipment needs of our hospitals will go directly into the local care of hundreds of patients everyday. Each year, hospital department managers, physicians and staff assess existing hospital equipment and decide what must be replaced . They also search for ways to advance health care locally through new medical equipment and technology that improves your treatment and recovery, reduces the length of time you must spend in the hospital, and prevent further complications from disease.

Without donations, your local hospitals would simply not be able to keep pace with today's medical advancements. The equipment priorities set out by staff and physicians need to be supported by donations, as only limited capital funds are available from other sources. Each year the Foundation provides $500,000 or more for equipment. Examples of some of the equipment that has been requested are:

2007/2008 Capital Equipment Needs


PLANNING A GIFT FOR THE FUTURE

Communities, like orchards must be nurtured. We have to prune and shape. We must naturally want to share with others the fruits of our labours. We want to help family and friends, but often we also want to give part of what we have for the benefit of people we have never met, and those less fortunate than ourselves.

Since 1988, the Huronia Hospitals Foundation (formerly the Huronia District Hospital Foundation) has been helping nurture and shape hospital care in the Midland/Penetanguishene area. There are many ways for you to show your appreciation and help do your part.

Future gifts


Sometimes the farmer needs all the apples from his orchard during his lifetime but nevertheless promises a tree, and its fruits to someone else after his death. He might make a testamentary gift, naming a charity in his will to receive either all or a portion of his orchard.

Giving through your will can be done a number of ways.

  • A general bequest designates a certain dollar amount of property, usually cash, to the charity selected.
  • A specific bequest directs that the charity is to receive a specific piece of property such as shares or stocks.
  • A residual bequest designates for the charity all or a portion of whatever remains after all debt, taxes, expenses and any other bequests are paid.
  • A contingent bequest takes effect only under certain donor specified circumstances.
  • Giving a planned gift of a bequest to a charity also has many tax-savings implications. When you make a bequest, your estate is entitled to a charitable receipt for the full value of the bequest. This can reduce significantly the tax payable when your final income tax is filed.

Life Insurance

  • Transferring ownership of a current policy: makes the charity both owner and beneficiary of a policy that you may no longer require, or one that exceeds your needs. Can entitle you to a charitable donation tax receipt for the value of the policy and any premiums that you pay towards it.
  • Naming a charity as beneficiary: this option is preferable to donors who wish to have access to the cash value of the property, or wish to be able to substitute a different beneficiary if their circumstances change. In this case the estate receives the tax receipt that can be applied to the donors final tax return.

Gifts that give back
Some gift arrangements can be compared to a farmer who gives his orchard to a charity while keeping the fruit during his lifetime. He may choose to receive a certain number of apples each year, or to keep as many, or as few, apples as the tree produces.

  • Gift Annuities: provides a future gift to the charity and a guaranteed payment for life to the donor. Self-Insure annuities invest the principle of your contribution and pay the donor a guaranteed fixed amount based on the age of the beneficiaries. After the death of the last beneficiary, remaining funds will be used by the charity for the purpose outlined by the donor. Reinsure annuities use part of your gift to buy an annuity from an insurance company that will guarantee an amount agreed upon be paid out to the donor, and the balance will be retained by the charity for current use or to accumulate for an endowment. A gift annuity also brings special tax bonuses. A sizeable portion of the payment will be tax free, and a donation receipt will result in a tax credit.

  • Charitable Remainder Trust: a deferred giving arrangement under which the donor transfers cash, securities, or real estate to a trustee. The donor retains the right to the income from the trust either for life or a specified number of years. The charity receives whatever is the remainder after the arrangements agreed upon in the trust document are fulfilled. A Charitable Remainder Trust has many advantages. It provides you and your family with an income, but also frees you from the responsibility of managing the asset(s) you contribute, saving on probate fees and protecting privacy.

If like the farmer in the orchard, your labours in life have provided a bountiful harvest, you can experience pride and satisfaction by sharing with others. With careful planning, you have the opportunity to make a generous gift to the Huronia Hospitals Foundation and do yourself a favour too.

Information provided by PlanGiv. A full information booklet entitled Designs for Giving is available from the Huronia Hospitals Foundation at (705) 526-1300 ext. 3138. Together we can determine how to match your interests with our needs.

Please remember to seek appropriate advice on any legal and financial matters from your family, lawyer, estate planner and financial advisor.

ENDOWMENT FUND: A gift for tomorrow that continues to give today

The Huronia Hospitals Foundation has created an Endowment Fund. Our donors now have the opportunity to endow a gift for tomorrow that will continue to provide annual interest income that will be used to support the ongoing hospital needs of today.

A formal policy guiding the Foundation on the use of these funds has been approved to ensure accountability to our donors. Generally, the policy encourages donors interested in endowing a gift to specify that it be held for a minimum of ten years or into perpetuity, with the annual interest used as needed. The fund is available to people interested in leaving a small gift today or a much larger gift from an estate or life insurance policy in the future. For example a gift of $100,000 from an estate would generate approximately $10,000 annually if interest of 10 per cent is realized on the initial donation.

The Endowment Fund is an exciting partnership between our two hospitals. It began with $400,000; a combination of assets from interest on donations made to the former HDH Foundation and the transfer of the PGH Perpetual Fund to the new Endowment Fund.

If you wish to make an endowment donation, please include written instructions when forwarding it to us or make your cheque payable to the Huronia Hospitals Foundation Endowment Fund.