Would you enjoy a walk, run, or bike ride on the TransCanada Trail, over the Kinsol Trestle, on an August morning?
Then join for the Shawnigan Lake Adventure.
Organizers are asking people in the Cowichan Valley to help us support local caregivers by collecting pledges and running, walking or biking in the Shawnigan Lake Adventure on Saturday, Aug. 6. The registration fee of $30 includes a vegetarian lunch, the chance to win prizes, and a massage or healing touch treatment. Choose from several walking/running routes or a 22-kilometre bike ride. Visit www.shawniganlakeadventure.com to register, and for more details.
This event is the annual fundraiser for caregiver support services in the Cowichan Valley. Whether someone is caring for a spouse with dementia, a parent who’s had a stroke, or an adult child with a disability, caregiving matters. Caregivers can be adult children caring for aging parents, friends or neighbours caring for someone close to them, or, most often, a senior caring for a spouse who’s also a senior.
Caregiving has a value so great it’s difficult to measure, either personally or economically. To provide care for a loved one in difficulty is full of love, devotion, effort, and patience. When caregivers don’t receive the support, information and care they need, it can also be full of frustration, exhaustion, resentment and fear. Caregivers are often forgotten in the focus on illness. With little sleep, exercise, socializing, or relief from caregiving, they can experience distress and burn out. Caregivers are at risk for anxiety, depression, and a decline in their own health. If they cannot continue to care for their loved one, who will? In order to keep caring for loved ones at home, caregivers need support, information, and connection.
The Cowichan Family Caregivers Support Society is a non-profit organization offering support to the caregivers who often put themselves last. Through professionally facilitated support groups, one-on-one support, counselling, advocacy, and education, the society offers care to those who care.
If you know of a caregiver in need or want more info, call 250-597-0886, or email info@familycaregiverssupport.org.