It was so wonderful to see the residents of Lakeside Gardens Seniors Community enjoy an afternoon of prizes! They raised an amazing $1,054 for the Intensive Care Unit at NRGH through these amazing prize baskets, many donated and created by the residents! The creativity and generosity of the residents is so special and moving. Thank you.
At this year’s Diwali party, Jeet and Kaajal Manhas and the Indian Business Association raised $1,000 for the future High Acuity Unit at NRGH. We are honoured to receive this gift from the Indian community on such a special occasion!
We are excited to celebrate the Rotary Club of Nanaimo-Oceanside for their gift of $4,000 toward the new Intensive Care Unit at NRGH! This gift is their part of a joint legacy gift to the hospital given by all five Rotary Clubs in Nanaimo!
We are so grateful to our sweet-toothed community members for raising $44,123.17 for the new Intensive Care Unit at the Nanaimo Regional General Hospital by purchasing Tim Hortons Smile Cookies in September! A big thank you to the Nanaimo Tim Hortons restaurant owners for making this amazing donation week possible.
Pictured from left to right: Mandeep Kandola (Brooks Landing), Janice Krall (NDHF), Ryan Cruz and Andy Milne (Westhill Plaza, Tenth Street, and Northfield Plaza), Jeff Blois (Dickinson Crossing and Woodgrove Centre), Lilian Mayne (Rock City Plaza and Nanaimo North Town Centre), Craig McBride (Wallace St. and University District), Christian Aubin (Code Brew Café), and Chelsea Carne (NDHF).
Wow! We received an unbelievable gift of $103,025 from the participants of the 6th annual Pat Docherty Memorial Tournament! We are so grateful to this generous group for their ongoing support. Over the years, they have given over $241,000 to the hospital! This year’s gift will go toward the purchase of all the medical equipment required in the new ICU. Thank you so much!
Audrey and I were together for over 30 years and she was the absolute love of my life. Her outer beauty and inner strength were unmatched. She had a sharp, dry wit that belied her soft spoken manner. There was nothing more important to her than her family and she is missed tremendously. I’d like to share a brief anecdote that gives a glimpse into her character. Audrey would love this story.
This photo was taken on our last day of a one week all inclusive vacation to Punta Cana. One of our off-resort excursions earlier that week was a deep sea fishing trip. Audrey had a fear of open water but she was ok with boats, just not with being responsible for keeping herself afloat. The fishing was a bit slow at first and Audrey started to get a little seasick. She quickly forgot about her distress when one of the lines bent over and all hell broke loose in the boat. It was a bit of a false alarm, just a small barracuda. She thought it was the coolest thing ever but the deckhand called it ‘la basura” (trash) and chucked it unceremoniously into the bait bin. Audrey was horrified. She nearly organized a mutiny. Things were getting tense at the back of the boat when fortunately the captain suddenly yelled out ‘aves!!’ (birds!) and turned hard toward a massive churning on the surface of the ocean a few hundred yards away, with gannets and gulls wheeling overhead diving into the water in a feeding frenzy. A school of mahi mahi had pushed a baitfish ball to the surface and before it was all over we had caught four huge ones. On the way back in to the dock everybody was happy, Audrey was chattering away in Spanish with the crew and the poor barracuda was forgotten, unavenged, to be chopped up later for chum.
Patience, mutual respect, loyalty, humility, unconditional love and yes, a little bit of humour, got Audrey and I through some pretty tough times. Her legacy will continue through all the people she touched along the way. Siempre te amare sweetheart.
Your Roberto
Congratulations to the team at Laird Wheaton GM for winning our 2022 Tim Hortons Smile Cookie Car Dealership Challenge! The team won an awesome advertising prize package by purchasing the most cookies during Smile Cookie week! All proceeds to the new ICU at the Nanaimo Regional General Hospital. Thank you!
Thank you to the prize donors, Nanaimo News Bulletin, Nanaimo & Voyager Magazine, and the Business Examiner.
Kids visiting the Nanaimo Regional General Hospital when they aren’t feeling well are sure to be cheered up by an awesome stuffie from PetSmart Nanaimo! Since 2018, PetSmart has been holding toy drives and have donated thousands of stuffies to our hospital for sick kids. This photo is just the tip of the iceberg for this year – PetSmart predicts that by the end of this year, they will have donated around 50 bags of stuffies!! Thank you so much!
MID ISLAND CO-OP FUEL GOOD DAY September 20, 2022
We are so incredibly grateful to Mid Island Co-op for their amazing fundraiser for us! We are overjoyed to announce that Mid Island Co-op has donated a grand total of $42,342.61 to Nanaimo & District Hospital Foundation! proceeds will go toward the purchase of medical equipment for the new Intensive Care Unit at the Nanaimo Regional General Hospital. THANK YOU to Mid Island Co-op and everyone who bought fuel on Fuel Good Day for making this happen!
Mid Island Co-op has supported the Nanaimo Regional General Hospital for over 30 years. They have supported 14 different initiatives at the hospital during that time, including Palliative Care, the Emergency Department build, and the Endoscopy Suite. To the folks at Mid Island Co-op, gift truly has impact on the community we serve. THANK YOU to Mid Island Co-op and everyone who bought fuel on Fuel Good Day for making this happen!
Raymond Paul Honig was born on April 27, 1944 in Worthing, England. He and his twin Roger were born to Vincent Honig, a RCAF Spitfire mechanic and Margaret Hynes, his British war bride. After the war, Ray and Roger were joined by younger siblings Valerie, Glenn and Kent. The family was raised in the rural Saskatchewan regions of Glaslyn, Divide, St. Walburg, Carrot River, Pelly, and Estevan.
Ray spent more than four decades with the military, first as an army cadet in Pelly, then with the South Saskatchewan Regiment (Canadian Army Reserves) in Estevan, and finally 37 years as a commissioned officer in the Regular Force where he served in the Queen’s Own Rifles of Canada, the Canadian Airborne Regiment, and the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry. His military service took him across the US, Cyprus, Germany, Syria, Bosnia, and every part of Canada. His experiences ranged from the mundane to the adrenaline-filled incredible, and he forged deep friendships and bonds with his colleagues.
Ray was doomed to a life of love when he met a schoolteacher (Joan Barbara Thurston) at the Officers’ Mess at CFB Baden Oct. 31, 1971. They married the following summer and were together for 50 years and 8 months. Their love produced three beautiful children who accompanied them in their wanderings and many homes across Canada and the US, and later two cherished granddaughters.
They retired to Nanaimo, BC and began an active and connected life filled with old and new pastimes and hobbies, growing their friend network exponentially and forming deeper relationships with extended family. These happy years always featured relaxation time for reading, teatime, happy hour and chatting in their opposing armchairs by the living room fireplace. Their adventurous natures took them across every continent as they fulfilled a lifelong desire to see and experience the world.
Ray is survived by Joan, his loving wife of 50 years, his children Colonel Barbara Honig, Jeff Honig (Jaleen), and Deborah (George), his grandchildren Sienna and Lilla, his brother Glenn (Colleen), brother-in-law Neil Huxtable, sister-in-law Diane (Ken), brother-in-law Neil (Carol), and many nieces, nephews, cousins and second cousins. He will be greatly missed by his family, friends, and the community in which he was an active participant in many clubs.
A Celebration of Life will be held Fri., Oct. 21, 2022 at Legion 256, 1630 East Wellington Road, Nanaimo from 1:00-4:00 pm. Ray will be buried in the National Military Cemetery (Beechwood Cemetery) in Ottawa later this fall. There will be a short ceremony and gathering there for anyone in the area who would like to attend the interment.
In Lieu of Flowers, please consider a donation to the Nanaimo General Hospital Foundation Fund for the ICU unit equipment for the new ICU Unit to open in 2023. Your donation would mean a lot to Ray, to us, and to Nanaimo.
© 2024 Nanaimo Hospital Foundation. All Rights Reserved