NEW pieces of furniture for the chemotherapy room and oncology clinic are items that have been on the Moree hospital’s wish-list for quite a while now – and with the help of Deluxe Cafe Moree’s generous customers, those wishes will become a reality in the New Year.
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The Deluxe Cafe, established five-and-a-half years ago by Bill and Cindy Poulos, introduced a counter-top tip jar on April 1, 2011 with all donations going toward projects planned for Moree hospital.
Now, as the fund-raising effort nears its third year, more than $7000 has been handed over.
Moree hospital CEO David Quirk says he is forever astounded by the generosity of the cafe’s clientele.
“The Moree Health Service is very, very grateful for the continued financial support from the generous Moree community,” Mr Quirk said.
“All funds received as community donations are banked into the hospital’s special purpose and trust account and are then used in accordance with the requests and wishes of the donor.
“In the case of the donations from the clientele of Deluxe Cafe, these funds have been spent on equipment for the oncology and chemotherapy unit to improve the comfort and safety of patients and their families.”
“The demand for the local oncology service continues to grow and it is great that we can improve the patients’ experience with donations from the local community.
“On behalf of the hospital, my sincere thanks go to Cindy and Bill and their generous customers.”
Cindy Poulos said fundraising efforts had exceeded all their expectations.
“When we started the tip jar we had hoped to raise about $1000 a year, and in the early days we talked about still being in business in 10 years’ time and raising $10,000,” Mrs Poulos laughed.
“Never in our wildest dreams did we think we’d reach more than $7000 in less than three years; we’ll go close to reaching that $10,000 mark by Christmas next year, the way it’s going.
“It’s amazing just how generous the people of Moree are, especially when it comes to donating to their own.”
“We have one of the best hospitals in country NSW. The town is very lucky to have a facility like it, as well as the fantastic staff that keeps it humming along.”
Deluxe Cafe donations for Moree Hospital – totally $7203 to December 9 – comes on the back of the ladder-leading $7768 raised earlier this year for Moree Relay for Life.
“It’s great that nearly $15,000 has been handed over to Relay for Life and our local hospital’s chemotherapy room and oncology clinic over the last two-and-a-half years or so, and just about all of it has been donated by our customers – they’re the most generous bunch of people in the world,” Mrs Poulos said.