YARMOUTH, N.S. – On behalf of the volunteers at Fidelis House, we want to publicly express our sincere appreciation to the Yarmouth Lions Club for their fundraising efforts on our behalf.
The event, a roast beef dinner at the Lions Hall on April 15, had an attendance of 375 – the largest and most generous of this annual event , which over the past five years has contributed in excess of $23,000 to the operations of Fidelis House.
In particular we would like to recognize Bob Rodgerson, a beloved friend of Fidelis House who is the driving force and head of this fundraiser.
Many will know of our local connection. Shirley Cameron was a Yarmouth native who lived in the Annapolis Valley and who spent years receiving treatment in Halifax for leukemia. She dreamed of a place where visiting friends or family members of people in the hospital – or people being treated in the hospital as outpatients – could stay overnight at a reasonable cost.
She named her dream after her mother – Fidelis – but Shirley Cameron died in 1988 before her dream was realized.
Her good friend Gertrude Morse took up the torch, however. She organized a fundraising group and did what she could to spread the word about the project. Nova Scotia Lions Clubs got involved and in 1992 Fidelis House was established
Fidelis House is a 12-bedroom facility on the grounds of the Valley Regional Hospital functioning as a provider of accommodation for patients and family or friends visiting with patients. Often times our guests are with us for several nights during the patient’s recovery.
We are extremely proud that we service some 4,400 bed nights annually and importantly we have maintained a nominal per night charge of $20 and only sustainable because of generous benefactors like the Yarmouth Lions Club.
The house is run by 65 dedicated volunteers and worthy to mention is headed by Gertrude Morse our founder of the organization some 25 years ago. We are on duty 24/7.
It only with the generosity of good friends like you that we can endure and provide a reasonable priced lodging.
Thank you so much Yarmouth Lions,
Gertrude Morse, Beth Moore, John Calpin,
Fidelis House volunteers
