A generous spirit can be a transformative thing. When you surround yourself with people who are devoted to community and helping others, your life is bound to change. And when that special person is your wife, your mother, or your grandmother, this generosity of spirit can become like a genetic trait, passed down as a legacy from generation to generation.
Joan Peltier was a woman whose lifelong devotion to family, faith, and community had this type of transformative effect. When Joan passed away peacefully at her home in Pain Court in January of 2023, her loving family found an opportunity to carry on her legacy under difficult circumstances. The community that Joan had been a part of for so many decades provided overwhelming support to make this possible.
Memorial donations flooded in to the Foundation in Joan’s memory, in support of the Dialysis Unit at CKHA. Even with memorial donations being split with VON Chatham-Kent, a staggering number – over $1,350.00 – was donated to CKHA in Joan’s honour.
“Mom was always a people person, and she loved to do things for other people, so this response wasn’t all that surprising,” said Joan’s daughter, Sandra. “Requesting memorial donations in mom’s memory was such an easy thing to do, and the impact that can be made when you add them all together is truly remarkable.”
An additional $500 donation was made in Joan’s memory by the Ladies of Ste. Anne. This longstanding Pain Court service club raises funds for their church, local schools and issues impacting
community members, and Joan had been a part of the organization for many years.
“Faith and community were so important to mom, and earlier in her life, she devoted a lot of time to the Ladies and the important work that they do,” Sandra stated. “It’s really beautiful to see it all come full circle with the Ladies making this generous donation in her memory.”
With a significant amount already contributed, Joan’s family was inspired to use the funds raised to leave a legacy in honour of her generous spirit and commitment to helping others. When the Foundation reached out to thank them for the outpouring of memorial donations made in Joan’s honour, the family expressed interest in using these funds, in addition to their own contributions, to purchase a new dialysis chair for CKHA.
“Joan had kidney disease for about ten years, and she actually loved going for dialysis at CKHA over the past few years, because she loved all the nurses and the patients that she got to see there,” said Joan’s husband, Ron. “So to do something helpful for the staff and the unit and the patients who need that treatment, it just felt like a win-win.”
The family’s goal to purchase this equipment was also aided by the generous spirit of Joan’s granddaughter, Julia. Over the past couple of years, Julia had been raising funds by selling ornamental corn that she grew herself on the farm. She had been searching for a way to use the funds to support local treatment of kidney disease, so she was thrilled to contribute the $700 that she had raised towards the purchase of the dialysis chair for CKHA.
“Julia takes after her grandma in the way that she’s always looking to help other people. Even when she was in the first grade, instead of asking for birthday presents, she wanted people to donate towards the Kidney Foundation,” Sandra said of her daughter. “We’re very proud of her for all of her hard work, and it’s hard to imagine a better way to use the funds that she has raised.”
Along with the memorial donations, the donation from the Ladies of Ste. Anne, and Julia’s fundraising efforts, the Peltier family plans to contribute any additional funds needed to purchase the dialysis chair.
Drawing inspiration from Joan’s lifelong commitment to helping others, the Peltier family are proving that generosity can be passed down from generation to generation. Through the purchase of this needed piece of equipment, they are helping our hospital provide high-quality care to local patients for years to come, and ensuring that Joan’s legacy will live on here in the community that she called home.
MARCH 20, 2024 UPDATE
On Wednesday, March 20th, we were honoured to pay a visit to CKHA’s Dialysis Unit with Ron, Sandra and Julia, to show them the impact of their generosity.
The new chair that was purchased through the memorial donations made in Joan’s honour, along with generous gifts and fundraising efforts of the Peltier family, provides improved comfort and adjustability for dialysis patients, and will have such a significant impact for years to come. In fact, through the support of our community, the Foundation is proud to fund the purchase of eleven more chairs like this one, to ensure that all of our hospital’s dialysis patients enjoy the comfort that they deserve!