The Invermere Health Care Auxiliary Society Donates $127,308 to the East Kootenay Foundation for Health

The Invermere Health Care Auxiliary Society (IHCAS), an organization with more than 170 dedicated, hard-working volunteers, owns and operates a very profitable thrift store in downtown Invermere. The organization recently donated a whopping $127,308 to the East Kootenay Foundation for Health (EKFH). This allows EKFH to purchase much-needed equipment and patient comfort items for the Invermere and District Hospital, ColumbiaHouse and the Golden and District Hospital. These three facilities are essential in the provision of health care to residents of the Columbia Valley. They provide emergency and acute care, laboratory and diagnostic services, and 35 residential care beds. Thanks to this generous support from the IHCAS, staff in these facilities will have some of their equipment shortfalls met, and patients will benefit from improved service and comforts. In 2017, the IHCAS donated a mind-boggling $218,692 to their community. The figure is simply amazing, given that the thrift store is open just three days a week—Thursday to Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.—and that most of the items for sale are priced at less than $3.00.

It takes an unbelievable effort by the volunteer staff to make the store the success that it is. In 2017, volunteers clocked 22,147 hours, with an additional 6,482 hours put in by the Auxiliary’s executive team. During the other days of the week when the store is closed to the public, volunteers attend to the huge task of sorting and organizing the donated items. Non-saleable and slow-to-sell items are sold to CanAm Exports and shipped to India for recycling.

The East Kootenay Foundation for Health extends its heartfelt gratitude to all the volunteers for being champions of health care, to the community for supporting the thrift store with much needed donations, and by shopping at the Thrift Store. The Foundation could not accomplish its goals without donors like the Invermere Health Care Auxiliary Society.
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