Powell River Hospice Society has a new name and new branding.
Now known as Four Tides Hospice Society, the society, with its new logo, is gearing up for a major fundraising campaign to raise sufficient capital to build a dedicated hospice facility serving the qathet region.
“We’re thrilled to unveil our new community-designed logo and officially transition to our new name,” said Cathy Fisher, president of the society. “We feel that this change was needed to position us for the future and to more clearly align with our long-term objectives of providing compassionate end-of-life and grief support to everyone in the region.”
Fisher said the call for a new logo went out in late February. The design contest was sent to Brooks Secondary School and to Partners in Education, and it was also opened to the community. In all, the hospice society received 17 applications.
“It was a really good community response,” said Fisher.
The society went through the logos that were submitted and Partners in Education grade 11 student Moira Kelly’s design, with four waves forming a heart shape, was selected.
Society vice-president Malerie Meeker said the society came up with the name four tides after going through a process of elimination with a number of name possibilities that had been submitted, which were boiled down to a short list.
“We looked at how they fit with our visions, our goals and objectives,” added Meeker.
Fisher said Four Tides wasn’t on the list but one of the board members suggested it. Meeker said it represented the ebb and the flow of life and was accepted by consensus by the board.
Kelly’s logo was selected because it reflected the feeling that the board wanted in the name, said Fisher.
Meeker said the society received some beautiful submissions, but there was something about Kelly’s heart with the waves.
“It just jumped out for a lot of us,” added Meeker. “This one just seemed to encapsulate the aspect behind the name.”
Coastal theme
Kelly said she did a lot of research into other hospice logos. She said when it came time to draft a logo, she wanted something with a heart and she wanted to do something with tides, the waves and the ocean.
“I just absolutely loved the coastal theme and how it fits in,” said Kelly. “It all just fell into place.”
Kelly said she does a lot of drawing and painting. She found out about the contest after a teacher sent the information to her.
“I was extremely excited,” said Kelly after being informed she had won the contest. “I was so happy and sent messages to so many people. It was really awesome.”
She hopes to do something in the art field after graduation.
Fisher said the board was thrilled that a young person won the contest. Meeker said the board was delighted that it was a student.
“I was blown away that Moira was so young,” said Fisher. “It’s so professional and profound.”
The change of branding will go on all materials, such as the website, social media, posters, brochures, letterhead and business cards.
qathet Division of Family Practice has donated the services of its communications lead to assist with the rebranding plan.
“We are quite grateful for the division’s support,” said Meeker.
Four Tides Hospice Society provides many end-of-life and grief support services, including volunteer visits, caregiver support meetings, grief groups and individual grief support, free of charge to anyone in the region. The society is also in the process of reaching an agreement with Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) on a dedicated hospice facility in qathet.
“Hospice House is very much needed in our community and we’re close to having a signed memorandum of understanding with [Vancouver Coastal Health],” said Leslie Emory, the society’s interim executive director. “We will raise funds to build the facility and VCH will staff and run it as an extension of their mandate here in qathet. It means a big fundraising campaign over the next three to five years, but we’re ready to put in the work to make this goal a reality.”
The fundraising campaign, titled I Heart Hospice, aims to raise $3 million over the next three years to build a hospice facility.
For her efforts in assisting with the branding, Kelly received a $200 prize from the hospice society.
