Orangeville Legion Presents Donation to Headwaters Health Care Foundation

February 6, 2025 · 0 Comments

By Josh Drakes

The Royal Canadian Legion Ontario Command Branches and the Ladies Auxiliary Charitable Foundation made a donation of $6,500 dollars to the Headwaters Health Care Foundation (HHCF) on January 28.

The Orangeville Legion, acting on behalf of the two charitable bodies, presented a $6,500 cheque to HHCF.

Shauna Santarossa, Senior Development Officer of Marketing, Communications and Donor Relations at HHCF, said that donation initiatives like this one help ensure the hospital has everything it needs to serve its patients.

“The Foundation is the fundraising arm of Headwaters Health Care Centre,” Santarossa said. “We raise money to ensure the hospital can continue to keep up with equipment demands in our hospital.”

The foundation directly supports the hospital in acquiring funding for facility upgrades, new equipment as well as critical and long-term care.

She also thanked the Orangeville Legion for its continued support.

“We appreciate all donations made by the community,” she said. “It is especially great to have such strong support from local service clubs in our area, like the Royal Canadian Legion.”

The donation presented to Headwaters on January 28 is going towards specialized equipment for cancer detection.

“This donation is directed towards the purchase of a colposcopy machine for the hospital,” Santarossa said. “A colposcopy is a diagnostic tool that helps with early detection of women’s cervical cancer.”

A colposcopy machine is a vital diagnostic tool that helps detect precancerous lesions before they become cancerous. Once the tool detects these lesions, they can be treated before they develop further.

The current tool operated by Headwaters is outdated.

“The current machine we have is over 15 years old, and the imaging is not as accurate,” Santarossa said.

Representatives of the Orangeville Legion met their counterparts from the Headwaters Health Care Foundation at the front entrance of the Headwaters facility to present the cheque.

The Royal Canadian Legion and its affiliated branches run yearly charitable foundations like this one to pool resources normally beyond individuals or small groups.

“The Ontario Command Branches and Ladies’ Auxiliary Charitable Foundation, a registered charity, is a partnership of the branches of the Royal Canadian Legion and their Auxiliaries in Ontario Command,” said the Legion in their 2025 Charitable Foundation statement.

“Branches and auxiliaries, through poppy tagging and activities such as bingo, break open tickets, raffles and clubhouse operations, fund the foundation,” they said. “Through our collective strength, we are able to fund projects, which are normally beyond the means of individual branches.”

These projects include funding medical research, paying for medical equipment, granting bursaries, and providing programs for aging veterans and veterans welfare. They also take into consideration other non-profit organizations and initiatives on a case-by-case basis.

“Hospitals, clinics, long term care facilities, fire departments, and other not-for-profit organizations involved in health care may make applications for funding to the foundation,” said the Legion.

Through initiatives like this, the Royal Canadian Legion and its affiliates continue to play a vital role in strengthening local healthcare, helping to ensure that patients at Headwaters Health Care Centre have access to the latest diagnostic tools and quality care.