Contributed photos.
(Above): As part of her commitment to Bethell Hospice, Helen Mason (centre in Hike shirt), raises fundraising pledges from friends and family members by walking along the Caledon Trailway from her home in Palgrave to the Hospice in Inglewood. She is shown being greeted by Bethell volunteers and staff.
Although it’s still about a month away, plans are well underway and teams are either being prepared or have already been organized for one of Bethell Hospice’s most high-profile and popular fundraising events.
Bethell Hospice provides compassionate, specialized care for quality living, dying and bereavement. The health care facility’s 16th annual hike will be held on Sunday, May 3. It marks the beginning of National Hospice & Palliative Care Week in Canada.
Participants in the five-kilometre hike will meet at the Lloyd Wilson Arena in the village of Inglewood, where the hospice is located. Then they head out along the Caledon Trailway to a point near Highway 10 and double-back to the arena.
Hikers, either solely or in teams, raise funds through pledges which help offset the hospice’s non-medical operating expenses. This year’s campaign goal is $255,000.
Adrian Horwood (right) and Bonnie Klaassen are the co-chairs of the Bethell Hospice Foundation.
“Those contributions make a huge difference,” says Bethell Hospice Foundation co-chair Adrian Horwood.
While provincial government financial contributions cover about 50 to 60 per cent of Bethell’s operating expenses, that support doesn’t extend to expenses such as heat and hydro, food for residents, and its bereavement counselling services, he explains.
Those services were Adrian’s introduction to Bethell. Following the death of his wife in 2020, a good friend recommended he make use of that counselling to cope with the grieving process. “Grief is a normal reaction, but it’s hard to explain to anyone who hasn’t gone through it,” he says.
After a number of sessions with a counsellor, Adrian learned there was no charge for those services. That realization set him on a long-term volunteer commitment to Bethell.
Not only is he the Foundation’s co-chair (along with Bonnie Klaassen), but he also makes donations to Bethell and takes part in the hike as a member of Boardwalkers, a team comprised of both the directors of the Foundation and the hospice board.
Adrian was one of several long-time hike participants that JustSayinCaledon.com reached out to for input about why they are involved and what keeps them motivated.
Nora Martin and teammate David McMullan are shown at the Bethell Hospice Hike in 2025. Nora leads a team called Girls in the Woods, which generates approximately $3,000 to $4,000 in donations annually
“If it wasn’t for the volunteers, Bethell Hospice would cease to exist,” says Nora Martin, who has been participating in the hike from Day One – even before its launch.
“I wanted to give back to the community,” says Nora, an early retiree who spent several winters in Florida, but got bored doing that.
After an associate told her about plans to build Bethell Hospice, she joined its Operations Board and served on the committee for several years until her term expired.
Then she joined the first-ever hike and hasn’t stopped. Nora leads a team called Girls in the Woods, which generates approximately $3,000 to $4,000 in donations annually
Besides this direct contribution, the Bolton senior has created a gift fund for several charities, including Bethell Hospice, with payments going to those charities annually.
Ken and Nancy Yates (left and front) with Nora and David
Two long-time members of the Girls in the Woods team are Bolton residents Ken and Nancy Yates. Long before Bethell Hospice was built the couple went through an experience which, in large part, provides the inspiration for their involvement.
That event was the death of Nancy’s mother from kidney disease in Toronto General Hospital. “They (hospital officials) told us she was going to die on a Thursday, but she lasted until the next Thursday,” says Nancy.
Shortly before the death, the hospital transferred her mother to a private room, where the couple spent several nights in reclining chairs watching over her.
While the hospital did what they could for his mother-in-law, “it would have been homier and more comfortable if she had been at Bethell Hospice, if it had existed at the time. It would certainly have been more convenient for us to visit her,” says Ken.
The couple doesn’t actively seek pledges, but they do make a significant financial contribution to the walk, as well as Bethell’s annual Christmas tree lighting. Nancy is also a monthly donor.
Due to mobility issues Nancy has been experiencing, the couple did their own hike in 2025. But they are planning to rejoin their friends and colleagues in Girls in the Woods again this year.
Along with the several hundred expected walkers, the Yates will be waved on by Helen Mason (in header image above), the hike’s ‘Grand Marshall.’
“I lead the hikers to the trail, then I walk to meet the first group coming back,” says Helen, who is one of the numerous volunteers who set up the hike in the morning before its official kickoff. Those volunteers include individuals who take last-minute registrations.
Like many of the people interviewed for this article, her dedication to Bethell Hospice was born out of grief and loss. Her husband John, spent the last seven weeks of his life living there in 2015.
The following year, she completed her first Bethell Hospice hike in Scotland, where she had booked a holiday. “I hiked about 10 kilometres and collected pledges from family members and friends.”
Similarly, those supporters donate to her annual solo 22-kilometre Bethell hike from her home in Palgrave along the Caledon Trailway to Inglewood, where she is greeted by hospice staff and volunteers. “I do get a ride back home,” she adds.
At this point, there are 36 teams registered for the hike and Bethell has received almost 400 donations towards the $255,000 goal, says Associate Director of Marketing and Communications Kelly Stronach.
Individuals and teams are encouraged to register before the hike to support fundraising efforts. However, registration is also open on the day of (Sunday, May 3), starting at 8 am, she says.
For more information visit: www.hikeforbethellhospice.ca
