Longtime Cranbrook community volunteer Linda Holt has been supporting the FW Green Home for many decades.

Her efforts started in the early 1980s when a delivery of Valentine’s Day cards from Sunday School Class to the residents made her realize how many seniors in our long-term care homes needed more connections to the communities.

Working alongside her late husband, Don, and several groups over the years, including the Jaycettes, Cranbrook United Church Women, and Cranbrook University Women Club, Linda coordinated the purchases of Christmas Gifts for seniors.

In Linda’s words, “the smiles and bright eyes of the residence filled our hearts with joy, as we carried in the many gifts to be distributed on Christmas day.”

Linda’s tradition carried on for over 40 years, until the pandemic forced a change in her strategy. Instead of delivering gifts to the seniors, Linda started working with the care home recreation departments to coordinate donations for purchases to benefit the needs of all residents.

Since starting her new approach, Linda and her fabulous team of volunteers have assisted in purchasing a video projector, a big screen, sound system, and a cotton candy machine, bringing a “drive-in” movie feel to the residents in walkers and wheelchairs at the home.

Adding a Tovertafel projector is Linda’s next focus to brighten the lives of staff, residents, and visitors at the FW Green Home. Through Linda’s dedicated team of donors and a generous donation from StellerVista Credit Union, there has been $5005 donated. She has already raised a quarter of the funds needed to purchase the $20,000 projector.

The Tovertafel, Dutch for “Magic Table”, is a projector that transforms any surface into an immersive, interactive game. The system is easy to use and features over 40 different games, at different difficulty levels, that can be played all day long.

These games help residents maintain eye coordination and motor skills and offer a fun form of communication that promotes social interaction with care professionals, family, and friends. It has become a proven, award-winning tool for bringing joy, engagement, and connection to individuals living with dementia across care homes worldwide.

EKFH is delighted to support Linda’s fundraising efforts towards this project that will be a major improvement for quality of life at the FW Green Home. We are currently collecting donations towards the projector through our FW Green Home Fund.

To learn more or support the cause you can visit ekfh.ca, call the foundation at 250-489-6481, or visit the foundation’s office in the East Kootenay Regional Hospital lobby.

Lead image: Bobby Adair (StellerVista Credit Union), Tatiana Pezeshki (StellerVista Credit Union), Brenna Hong (EKFH), Linda Holt (fundraising extraordinaire), Kirsten Tunnicliffe (StellerVista Credit Union). East Kootenay Foundation for Health photo

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