2013 GoodHearts AGM – Recap

Our 2013 GoodHearts AGM was held on Saturday, September 21 at the Radisson Hotel South. Thanks to all the GoodHearts members, directors and the 2nd Chance Trial Ride members who were able to join us for the breakfast meeting and presentation.

New Board member, Shereen

At the meeting our new Board of Directors was elected and introduced to the members.  The board is comprised of returning members Silvio, Jackie, Jenn, Maggie, Barb, Helene and Josh, along with new members Melanie and Shereen.

Our president, Jackie Foord, chaired the meeting and presented her Annual Report, which highlighted what GoodHearts has been up to in the past year, including a summary of our Transplant Housing and other programs. Some highlights include the following:

• Our members' dinner was held in October of last year.  It was a chance to connect with our members, enjoy each other’s company and share a meal.
   
• We gave away $3,000 worth of gasoline cards and $8,000 of grocery cards through the social workers. Before the year’s end social workers will likely need another $1,500 in gas cards and $2,500 in food cards.
   
• We provided 14 MedicAlert bracelets so far this year to transplant recipients.
   
• We provided two apartments at the Galen Lofts. Our partner in this venture is Westcorp.  Without their help we really couldn’t provide the level of service to our guests. They help with move in and move outs and do all the cleaning. They accommodate us to the point where we can move in new guests with about a 48 hour notice. Over the past year, the apartments have been empty less than a week total – that includes both apartments.
   



Jackie with members of the 2nd Chance Trail Ride

• We had a casino in April. We are so grateful for all the volunteers who come out to help over the two days. We earned $80,872.20
   
• The fundraising highlight of the year was surely the 2nd Chance Trail Ride who donated $55,000.00 to our group. See below for highlights.

The members voted to officially change our name from the GoodHearts Mentoring Foundation to the GoodHearts Transplant Foundation.  The reasoning behind the name change is as follows:

GoodHearts was originally founded as a mentoring society. With the changes in hospital protocol it was not possible to create the kind of program that was envisioned.  For the past several years, GoodHearts has provided a number of services: financial support (gas and food cards) for transplant patients; public awareness campaigns; MedicAlert bracelets and most recently short term housing for those waiting for or having received a transplant.  Our current legal name is GoodHearts Mentoring Foundation.  Most people just call us GoodHearts however our legal name is GoodHearts Mentoring Foundation.  In order to better reflect our programs and to end any confusion that may arise from our name, we are asking the membership to formally change the name to GoodHearts Transplant Foundation.

Jackie, Silvio and the 2nd Chance Trail Ride group

A special presentation was made by the members of the 2nd Change Trail Ride who presented the GoodHearts with a cheque for $55,000.00. The trail ride took place on May 11, 2013 and was a huge success. Jackie, our president, and Silvio attended the event. We would like to thank everyone who was involved in the event for their hard work.

We are very grateful that the 2nd Chance Trail Ride chose to raise money this year for the GoodHearts Transplant Foundation, and would like to thank them for the $55,000 they have raised for us. This gift will be used to open a third suite at the Galan Lofts named the 2nd Chance Suite. We thank all the members of the 2nd Chance Trail Ride for their amazing support and generosity. For more information about the group please visit the 2nd Chance Trail Ride Facebook page.

As well, visit CTV news to view a special on the GoodHearts and 2nd Chance Trail Ride entitled Special service for transplant recipients.

Lastly, Helene announced our upcoming 2013 GoodHearts dinner which will be held Saturday evening, November 2, 2013 at the Radisson Hotel South. Tickets are $50 per person. Please contact us if you are interested in attending.