Cody-Rae Fowler continues to do what she can to help keep our local hospital strong.

The 18-year-old from Picton hosted a series of craft sales over the summer and donated $1,010 from the vendor table fees and raffles to the Prince Edward County Memorial Hospital Foundation (PECMHF).

Fowler, now a first year Practical Nursing Student at Loyalist College, lent her sewing skills to the fight against the spread of the coronavirus early on in the pandemic by making and selling over 1,750 face masks. She donated $3,210 from the mask sales in March of 2020 to PECMHF to help Back the Build for a new hospital.

Fowler loves to sew and operates Scrunchie and Go, an online shop where she designs, sews and sells hair scrunchies and pet accessories among other handmade items. When the gathering restrictions put in place throughout the pandemic began to ease, Fowler organized COVID-safe craft sales in outdoor locations throughout The County. Her scrunchies are now being sold in over 20 stores across Ontario!

She discovered that participating vendors were keen to support the hospital and were happy to donate their table fees to PECMHF to help with the purchase of priority medical equipment needed at Quinte Health Care Prince Edward County Memorial Hospital (QHC PECMH).

“My mom and grandmother work at QHC PECMH so I have a personal connection to the hospital. I also felt it was important to keep our current hospital equipped until the new one is built. If you live in Cressy, you’re a 30-minute drive to Picton and then an additional 30 minutes to Belleville if you need a hospital. It’s important to have a good hospital, close to home, and I want to do what I can to help our hospital in The County strong,” said Fowler. “I am also very grateful to all the vendors who enthusiastically supported this idea and to all the people who visited the craft shows and purchased raffle tickets.”

“Cody-Rae’s efforts continue to be a labour of love for our hospital and the community,” said Shannon Coull, executive director of the PECMHF Foundation. “She’s very passionate about helping people and giving back. She’s also helped so many people throughout the pandemic by making them feel safe whether it is through sewing masks or by hosting events with strict protocols in place. Cody-Rae is a young philanthropist who continues to invest in the future of health care delivery in Prince Edward County and we are so proud of her and her accomplishments.”

As the need for priority equipment never stops, the foundation is appealing to the public continue giving to help us raise $374,000 to support equipment purchases at QHC PECMH this year. Some of the equipment we are fundraising for includes bariatric stretchers, a defibrillator, a portable cardiac monitor and a new ultrasound machine.

Donations can be made through PECMHF’s website, www.pecmhf.ca, over the phone by calling 613-476-1008 ext. 4502 or by mail to 403 Main St., Picton, K0K 2T0.

The Prince Edward County Memorial Hospital Foundation is a charitable organization whose mission is to raise money to advance health care for the patients of the hospital and the people of Prince Edward County.