Personal Care Kit Donation Will Help Many Patients Undergoing Cancer Treatment

Earlier this month, the Durham Regional Cancer Centre (DRCC) received a special delivery from Meridian Credit Union.

In partnership with Kits for a Cause, Meridian generously donated 240 personal care kits for patients at the DRCC who are starting cancer treatment. Each kit comes in a backpack, and includes items such as socks, blankets, warm hats, tissues, word search puzzles, colouring books, pencil crayons etc.

“We are extremely grateful to Meridian for this incredibly thoughtful and generous donation,” said Stefanie Sullivan, Registered Nurse, DRCC Systemic Therapy Suite. “The extra bit of comfort these kits will provide to our patients while they undergo their treatments means so much.”

Three branches of Meridian came together for a ‘packing event’ to assemble the kits as a way to give back to the DRCC. “Meridian is focused on community banking, which means giving back to the communities we work in,” said Monika Rivoire, Whitby Branch Manager, Meridian Credit Union. “We have many cancer survivors on our team, as well as family members who have fought their own battles with cancer. We wanted to give back to Lakeridge Health and show our support to patients going through the same fight, and we hope that these small tokens of comfort will provide a sense of warmth and encouragement during their treatment.”

For patient Debbie, having this care kit will help her pass the time on the longer days. “The items in this bag will really help with the long hours that I am in the cancer centre,” said Debbie. “Some days, I will be here for about nine hours. I travel from Fenelon Falls to come to my appointments, so I will be able to use this bag to carry my personal stuff to and from appointments. I’m very thankful!”