The Royal Canadian Legion Branch 12 Kenora has just written its latest chapter in a history rooted in philanthropy. This took the form of an extraordinary $100,000, presented July 4 from their lottery account in support of the Lake of the Woods District Hospital Foundation’s Beyond The Scan campaign to replace their CT Scanner, ensure an Advanced Mammography Unit and – priority number one – bring the region’s first-ever MRI machine to the local community.
Branch President Jason Lava said it was an easy sell, once the branch got the heads-up from the foundation that the campaign would be launched. With enough money remaining in their lottery account, the idea of using it for this purpose was greeted enthusiastically by members.
Helping to enhance patient care closer to home at LWDH is not a new story for this amazing branch. They have supported past projects like the last replacement CT Scanner, as well as equipment upgrades in palliative care and the original mammography equipment purchased in 2012. Just recently, in March 2024, they made a $10,600 donation to purchase a new Lifepak 20e Defibrillator specifically for patient transport at the hospital.
This kind of support means so much to the branch, Lava said. So many of their members and the community’s veterans have stories of needing care that is only available thousands of kilometers away. For services not readily available, it boils down to a handful of difficult choices – make the trip to Winnipeg, travel five hours plus one time change away to Thunder Bay or fly to southern Ontario on your own dime.
Sometimes loved ones must accompany a patient, and lodging must be found and paid for. Even when there’s a program that offers travel grants, funds received can be characterized as “peanuts.”
Lava has a story of his own, when his father (and branch past president) Jerry Lava required dialysis and a chair was not available in Kenora. Fortunately, he only had to make that regular trip to Thunder Bay about a month before a chair opened up. Others aren’t always that lucky.
With a home-town MRI, he said, those who need the scan will no longer have to worry about how far they have to go to get one.
And having the branch help make it possible “just shows the community coming together.”
With that magnificent gift to launch their summer, he added, the branch is preparing for the fall, when those meat draws, break-open tickets and a new Catch The Ace – not to mention another poppy campaign – will be back to help the branch tackle the community’s greatest needs.