Dear Friends,

This year’s theme for World Hospice & Palliative Care Day – Healing Hearts and Communities – has in mind the losses that people all over the world have suffered during the covid-19 pandemic. The sudden and unexpected brutality of the early phases of the pandemic left many people feeling both bereft and unable to cope or process their grief. The burnout we have witnessed among care providers and the rise in mental health issues at large is testimony to this.

We use this occasion to thank our CanSupport team of staff and volunteers for having stood their ground during this crisis and helped patients and their families navigate the new challenging situation despite the personal risk involved. We also acknowledge the help we received from donors who generously provided the personal protective equipment, masks, sanitizers, oxygen concentrators, etc., that were essential to keep our services running as well as meet the needs of those under our care.

Let us use this occasion to all join together as a caring community to assist those who still need our support and who are hurting from the loss of a loved one because of cancer, covid or any other life limiting condition.

Warm regards,

Harmala Gupta

Pic Credit: WHPCD Toolkit