Anonymous $22,000 donation brings holiday hope to Lanark County dialysis patients
This has been an exciting week for the folks at Lanark Transportation Association (LTA), as they received an unprecedented and remarkable donation of $22,000 by a donor wishing to remain anonymous.
The LTA is a grassroots, nonprofit organization that connects people with life-changing community support and services, and they are beyond grateful to have received this donation to continue all the work they do.
According to the LTA, the donation will be used to assist Lanark County residents with the cost of transportation related to any dialysis related needs. In most cases, dialysis treatment is undergone three times a week. For residents of Lanark County, this often means taking multiple trips a week to Ottawa or Kingston and back again.
This is where the LTA can step in, providing patients with accessible vehicles to get them where they need to go.. They serve residents in Perth, Mississippi Mills, Tay Valley, or anywhere else in Lanark County. Unfortunately, however, these trips don’t come without a price. According to Marilyn Bird, the Executive Director of the LTA, each trip to a dialysis treatment can cost a patient up to $250 per trip.
Bird told Lanarkist, “Part of the funding that we receive is from the provincial gas tax money and, we set aside money each year to subsidize transportation for people who aren’t covered by ODSP or Ontario Works, and the amount of subsidy they receive is linked to their household income. But because of the demand on our subsidy, we have to limit it to $500 worth of subsidy per year per client.”
She continued, “ So if the trip costs $250 and we say to you that we’re going to do it for $50 that’s still at least $150 for the client, or $600 a month. Within a few trips, they’ve used up their subsidy.”
Evidently, for low-income people living in rural areas, undergoing dialysis three times a week is a huge financial burden, and there is simply not enough funding provided by the government to alleviate this. “I get calls from families looking for transportation for dialysis, and when I explain the financial reality of it, it’s overwhelming for the family looking at that, and we’re the only service in Lanark County that has accessible vehicles.”
Just in time for the Christmas season, the LTA are feeling very cheerful about the impact this $22,000 donation will have on their organization and their patrons. “The donation was totally unexpected and we were totally overwhelmed. We hadn’t applied for any program or anything so I will put it down to word of mouth of our services,” shared Bird.
She clarified that this financial sum will essentially be turned into a subsidy program, and the LTA is currently establishing a means of testing for eligibility. There will need to be a level of financial need to qualify for this funding.
Bird wanted to publicly thank the anonymous donor, saying “ We’re very grateful for this generous donation, and the impact it is going to have throughout Lanark county is immeasurable on the quality of life.”