At 68, Mike Dagenais could easily spend his retirement restoring motorcycles, taking road trips, and enjoying the freedom that comes with decades of hard work. And while he certainly does those things, there’s something else that keeps him busy all year long — giving back to his community.

Mike is a proud member of the Seaway Valley Riders, a Cornwall-based motorcycle club of about 30 members. For the past eight years, he and his fellow riders have organized the Ride for Hospice, an annual event that brings together bikers from across the region to raise funds for the Cornwall Hospice. For the team at Hospice, Ride for Hospice is more than a fundraising event. It’s a symbol of what happens when ordinary people step up to do extraordinary things for people in their community.

“We started the club just to ride together,” Mike recalls. “Every Friday we’d meet up for lunch and a beer, and over time, more people joined in. Before we knew it, we had 25 riders. One day, my buddy and I said, ‘Why don’t we do something with this? We’ve got nothing to lose.’”

That casual conversation turned into a movement. The Seaway Valley Riders chose Hospice Cornwall as their cause, a decision rooted in compassion and connection. “There are a lot of great charities out there, but hospice care touches everyone,” Mike says. “We all know someone who’s come through those doors.”

The first Ride for Hospice, held at the St. Lawrence Pub, far exceeded expectations. “We thought we’d be lucky to raise $5,000,” Mike laughs. “We ended up with $12,000. And we just looked at each other and said, ‘Well, now we can’t stop.’”

Eight years later, the event has grown into a beloved local tradition. Last year alone, the Seaway Valley Riders raised over $43,000, with nearly half coming from year-round fundraising efforts like raffles, draws, and barbecues. “It’s not just one day,” Mike says. “We’re raising money all year long, selling tickets, raffling off TVs, running small events. Every bit counts.”

What makes people like Mike so vital to the fabric of their communities is the initiative they take. Charities like Hospice Cornwall depend on donations to operate, but behind many of those dollars are community champions who volunteer their time, energy, and resources to make good things happen.

“I used to be shy about asking people for support,” Mike admits. “Not anymore. The worst they can say is no. But once people see what we do and that the money stays right here in the community, they open up. Cornwall is a very giving town.”

Indeed, the generosity seems to circle back. Local businesses donate cash and prizes. Patrons at the pub buy tickets again and again. And sometimes, the support comes in unexpected ways, like the man who approached Mike last year with a $4,000 donation from an inheritance. “He told me he wanted to start our year off right,” Mike says, smiling. “Moments like that remind you that people care.”

While some might see motorcycle clubs through a narrow lens, Mike and his crew are helping change that perception. “We get painted with the wrong brush sometimes,” he says. “People hear ‘biker’ and think something else. But at the end of the day, we’re just regular folks doing good things. We like to ride, we like to laugh, and we care about our community.”

Mike and his wife, Sue, who used to ride beside him before health challenges slowed her down, are the heart of much of this effort. Together, they spend hours going door-to-door, approaching businesses, and organizing logistics. “It’s not work,” Mike says simply. “It’s what we love to do.”

For Mike, the motivation is clear. “When I see the impact, when someone comes up to me and says their mom or dad passed at hospice, you realize you’ve made a difference. You know you can’t stop doing it.”

And that’s the quiet beauty of community builders like Mike Dagenais — people who don’t just live in their towns but actively shape them. They remind us that generosity isn’t limited to organizations or annual campaigns. It lives in the individuals who put up their hands and say, “I can help.”

As the Seaway Valley Riders gear up for their ninth Ride for Hospice, Mike is already thinking ahead. “I’ll keep doing this as long as I can,” he says. “And when I can’t ride anymore, I’ll still be helping. It’s something we started, and we can’t stop now.”

Because for Mike, the open road and open heart go hand in hand.

Learn more about their 2026 ride.

What a day we had! Thank you to everyone who joined us at the Carefor Show & Shine on June 7, 2025—participants, donors, volunteers, and community members. Together, you helped raise funds to support seniors living at Carefor Civic Complex and Mackay Centre, and your generosity means the world.

A special congratulations to Chip Wodtke, whose beautifully restored 1941 Chevy Pickup took home Best in Show! 🚘👏

We’re grateful for your support and can’t wait to see you again next year.

She gained a newfound appreciation for the staff after seeing their level of expertise, passion and care in ensuring her health and well-being.

“I was grateful to be in their hands,” Claude remembered. “They brought my health back and I wanted to find a way to say thank you.”

When Claude asked staff if she could contribute to advancing the work of the wound clinic and the health of others in the community, Carefor nurse Anic Perrier knew the answer to improving the lives of her most at-risk clients. For people suffering from diabetic foot ulcers (DFU), an innovative way to relieve the pressure on their feet is finally possible thanks to Claude’s generosity.

“While people living with DFU have referrals to see a foot specialist, these appointments can take months, meaning clients are more at risk of developing life-threatening infections from open sores caused by the pressure on their feet. Our new Draco boot offloading insoles has been a gamechanger. We’re now able to relieve the pressure on wounds and speed up the healing process for dozens of clients,” Anic said.

“We couldn’t have improved the lives of these clients if it wasn’t for Claude’s support,” she added.

For Claude, giving back is second nature, and finding ways to give meaningfully has made a world of difference. Her many years of donations to Carefor’s bursary program and different projects have also been a way to honour her husband’s memory, who received Carefor home care services a decade ago.

“It’s my way of saying thanks for the years of support,” she said. “We all need medical care as we get older. Services like Carefor need more help and support, and so I’m trying to do my share.”

“Seeing for myself the impact of my donations, to be of service to others, to make them happy and to facilitate their work is extremely satisfying.”

Thanks to donor support, we can continue providing necessary and personalized home care and support services, today and into the future. We thank all our donors for your continued support. We couldn’t have done it without you. If you’d like to share the story on why you give, please contact mhaidari@carefor.ca. 

Carefor is excited to host the Grand Parade on Saturday September 16th at Strathcona  Park in Ottawa, starting at 10am.

The Grand Parade is a super-fun, family-friendly fundraising walk that celebrates and supports seniors and their families across Canada.

We are excited to return to in-person fundraising events and we would love it if you could join us. Please check out the website  https://thegrandparade.org/home to find out how you can get involved as a team captain, a walker, a runner or as a sponsor. If you don’t have your own team, you can join one of ours.

If you are interested in sponsorship or have any questions about The Grand Parade, please reach out to Wendy Knechtel wknechtel@carefor.ca or 833-922-2734 ext. 2298 for more information. The Grand Parade is a unique opportunity for businesses to reach a wider audience while aligning with a charity dedicated to supporting your community. Carefor relies on businesses to continue our work across all Eastern Ontario.

If you or someone you know would be interested in sponsoring the Carefor Grand Parade Event, you can contact Carefor’s Fundraising Manager, Wendy Knechtel at wknechtel@carefor.ca to express your interest.

We hope that you will choose to support and participate in this event and fundraise for your team and for Carefor!

To learn more about, or to register for The Grand Parade, click here: https://thegrandparade.org/home

For many, Carefor’s service means more than home care visits – It’s a lifeline.

Longtime donor James Gander recently celebrated his 100th birthday, and he thanks Carefor for tending to his health, which has allowed him to stay at home longer.

When Mr. Gander was in desperate need of care services four years ago, Carefor’s staff were making several daily visits to ensure his health and safety.

“Carefor has done a lot of good work for me,” he says. “A lot of people don’t realize how important that work is to so many people in the community. They’re one of the few organizations who do it properly. They’re always available when I need them.”

While Mr. Gander lives alone, he still lives with peace of mind knowing that Carefor makes their daily visits to tend to his condition.

“I want to stay home and not go into a residence, and Carefor has helped me do that. They’ve made a great deal of difference to me.”

Some of the essential services we provide wouldn’t be possible without your generosity. We thank all our donors for your continued support. We couldn’t have done it without you.

If you’d like to share the story on why you give, please contact mhaidari@carefor.ca. 

It’s said that charity begins at home. Whereas some may see that mantra as meaning one should support local causes, for the Duffield family of South Mountain, it means teaching their children from a very early age to give.

The concept of charity, like many things, is taught. Billie Jo Duffield and her husband have instilled a sense of charity in their four children, 6, 10, 14 and 18, from a very young age. “I want my kids to realize you don’t only give back after someone gives to you,” says Billie Jo. 

In the past, the family has given to a variety of causes such as the Children’s Aid Society or the Snowsuit Fund and even “elfed” friends and family by secretly dropping baked goods off at their homes. This year, since Billie Jo’s mother works in a long-term care facility, she has seen the impact COVID-19 has had on the elderly and wanted to do something special for local seniors.

So, she thought to reach out to her friend, Carole Green, who is the manager of Carefor’s Richmond Care Home. Carole eagerly agreed and the family set to creating care packages for the home’s 16 residents, all of whom are women living with dementia. After quarantining the packages twice, the women at Richmond Care Home were treated to care packages including mugs, fuzzy socks, bracelets, candy canes, chocolate and more.

But what makes this story special isn’t just what the Duffields did for the women of Richmond Care Home, but that the Duffield family suffered a devastating fire in their home on September 5th. Since then they have moved several times with their children and pets, and now have found a rental that they’ll be in until mid-spring when they can hopefully return home.

Despite having their world turned upside down during one of the most challenging years on record, the family focused on giving as a way to overcome. “People came together for us,” says Billie Jo. “We had a lot of assistance and help.” But as she says it’s not about giving back; it’s just about doing what’s right. With people like this family in our community, we know that we’re in good hands for generations to come. As Billie Jo says, “My son wants to be a chef who feeds the homeless.”

Every October for nearly 20 years, Mr. James Waite has donated to Carefor to honour his wife, Betty, who passed away on Thanksgiving Day in 2001.

He says Carefor reminds him of kind-hearted people, and that’s why he gives: “When she passed away I was so grateful for the work they had done with her.”

He fondly remembers a young nurse who came to help his wife on her wedding day. When Mr. Waite asked the nurse why she wasn’t on her honeymoon, she replied, “I have plenty of time for my honeymoon, but your wife won’t.”

“That’s kindness and that’s what I admire about those people,” he recalled.

Mr. Waite not only donates to thank the people who helped his wife during her final days, but also to make a difference in the lives of others: “Everybody can’t be saved, but the little bit that I give added to the little bit that everybody else gives might save somebody along the line.”

For that reason, Mr. Waite encourages others to donate to a cause near to their heart: “If you even have 10 cents left over, donate it.”

Some of the essential services we provide wouldn’t be possible without your generosity. We thank all our donors for your continued support. We couldn’t have done it without you.

If you’d like to share the story on why you give, please contact mhaidari@carefor.ca. 

Caregiver’s Garden Helps Keep Love Growing

A caregiver’s love never stops growing. Caregivers come in all different forms: mothers, fathers, children, friends and agencies like Carefor. Supported by the City of Ottawa, and in partnership with Ritchie Feed & Seed, Carefor is gearing up to launch the Caregiver’s Garden in Strathcona Park. The Garden will be a place for people to come to reflect on a caregiver in their lives or someone for whom they have provided care. The Garden is a perfect metaphor for caregiving as it requires ongoing attention and love, but despite the work can bring much joy. The planting of the garden will take place in June, featuring a wide array of pollinating plants and flowers that will bloom at various points of the year.

 

Dedication to Innovation – The Wound Care Team

Anyone working in or needing healthcare understands the pressure the system is under. Hospitals are flooded with patients and in many places emergency rooms are either closing temporarily or permanently.  One impact on our communities is felt by the many patients who would normally be treated in hospital being discharged to their homes, while still dealing with health crises.

This is where home care comes in. What home care staff are seeing as a result of this offloading of care are clients with more complex conditions than they might normally see. As is often the case with care, especially complex care, it doesn’t exist in isolation and requires multiple supports to treat and manage. As an agency with a home care department comprised of nursing, personal support services and rehabilitation services, all of which support clients dealing with wounds, these teams got together to figure out new ways of working to support the changing and complex needs of their clients.

The product was an innovative program which brought together teams which had mostly worked in parallel rather than collaboratively. Carefor’s newly created Wound Care Team is represented by nurses, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, a registered dietician, the Personal Support Services Supervisor, and Professional Practice Leads. The group meets quarterly to discuss innovative and best practices for managing and treating wounds.

The goal as stated by Personal Support Services Supervisor, Nicholas Miron is “to improve the detection and prevention of wound development for Carefor’s wound care clients.” Nicholas has seen the impact on Carefor clients, one of whom required an innovative plan due to skin tears developing while ambulating in her wheelchair. She was opposed to using the foot pedals on her wheelchair and would remove them whenever she got the chance. With the foot pedals removed, she was susceptible to developing more skin tears as the lack of pedals left space for friction at her sides.

As the resources for this client were also limited due to her financial situation, Nicholas brought these issues to the Wound Care Team who worked together to develop a plan. He managed to cut a pool noodle and shape it to fit over the bars, protecting the client from continuing to develop skin tears, while still respecting her wishes for the foot pedals to not be on the wheelchair.

With approximately 60% of Carefor nurses’ time spent dealing with clients requiring complex wound care, better ways of working are always front of mind for our staff. This collaboration not only improves outcomes for our clients, it also improves staff work satisfaction knowing that they’re bettering their practice and are part of a team with a similar focus. While Carefor’s Wound Care Team does not fix a strained healthcare system, it does offer those in the middle of it the help they need at home.

Taking care of a loved one during their time of need is never easy, but necessary. Fortunately, Carefor is there to help.

When Vivian Guilbeault was diagnosed with dementia several years ago, her children did everything in their power to ensure her health and safety. But as Vivian’s dementia began to rapidly decline and she suffered a fall in January 2020, they were left with an important decision: let their mom receive care in the hospital or keep their family together at home.

“With news of COVID-19, we knew she would be safer at home,” says her son Shane.

While Vivian felt nervous to have people come to her home, Carefor’s caring team of personal support workers and nurses helped make her life easier and provided much-needed respite for the family: “Once mom got used to having Carefor staff come in a few times her anxiety levels calmed. She even began to look forward to their visits.”

Vivian’s routine didn’t only involve quality home care services, but also a chance to see a team of staff that became her friends.

“The personal support workers would blow-dry her hair like she was at a salon every day. It was just the little things, but they were very important to her,” remembers Shane. “They provided her a lot of dignity.”

Shane and his family feel grateful for Carefor’s in-home care support that gave them the opportunity to stay together in the safety and comfort of their home, especially during these uncertain times. “Between us and Carefor, we were able to keep mom at home right until the end. She wouldn’t have been able to stay home with us if Carefor wasn’t there to help.”

Special thanks to Carefor staff Tandara, Ruth, Neriz, Gertrude, Nelida, Hiwot, Halima and Hodane for making a true difference.

Thanks to donors like the Guilbeault family, and you, we can continue providing necessary and personalized home care and support services, today and into the future. We thank all our donors for your continued support. We couldn’t have done it without you. If you’d like to share the story on why you give, please contact mhaidari@carefor.ca.