Karen Taylor
Her passion for nursing and education lives on
Karen Taylor strongly believed that nurses caring for cancer patients
need to continually upgrade their skills so they can make a positive
difference in the lives of patients and their families. When she
became a cancer patient herself, her family decided to keep this
passion alive.
In 1998, the same year Karen passed away after a lengthy battle
with breast cancer, her family, friends and former colleagues created
the Karen Taylor Nursing Research Endowment Fund. The Fund provides
bursaries for nurses who are pursuing further education, particularly
those specializing in cancer care.
“We wanted to create a legacy for Karen and education was
her passion,” says Jill Ferne, Karen’s sister-in-law.
The first fundraising activity was a golf tournament, organized
by Jill; her husband, Ernie; and Karen’s husband, Don (all
co-owners of Manderley on the Green golf course); along with Karen’s
two sisters, Elaine and Janice.
The first Karen Taylor Memorial Golf Tournament was held in August
1998, raising an incredible $25,000. By 2005, this popular event
has helped increase the Fund to more than $230,000.
In addition to the tournament, Karen’s friends and family
find other ways to support the Fund throughout the year, such as
through payroll deductions at their workplaces and donations collected
for a CD that was created from songs Karen had recorded when she
was alive.
Karen’s Fund continues to grow and to change lives. Every
year, Jill, Elaine and Janice review and approve applications to
award bursaries of $2,000 and $3,000 to nurses at The Ottawa Hospital.
They award approximately $8,000 each year and, as Jill explains,
this is only the starting point.
“Our goal is to fund someone for an entire year’s worth
of education – $30,000,” she says. In order to do so,
they must increase the Fund to $600,000. And so the fundraising
continues.
“We thought the golf tournament would lose a bit of steam
over the years, but we’ve been really amazed at how supportive
the community has been for this cause,” Jill reflects. “Karen
would surely be amazed and proud to see what we are doing in her
name.”
For more information, visit www.karensfund.ca
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