Greeting card campaign under way for the Hospice Erie Shores Campus

A Leamington woman has turned her hobby into a fundraiser for the Hospice Erie Shores Campus.

“I want to give back what my family received from the hospice,” says Linda Enns.

Linda’s husband Dave fell ill during the fall of 2015 and passed away at the Hospice Erie Shores Campus in June of 2016, only three weeks after the hospice opened.

“It was a compassionate, caring, loving and heart-warming experience,” said Linda.

She took a year to get ready and then began volunteering at the hospice.

“I wanted families to have what we had — such a caring experience,” she added.

What started out as a peaceful hobby of taking sunset photos locally, began to turn into something more. She began getting up early in the morning to capture sunrises with her lens, too.

“I’m not an early riser,” she said. “So this was an adjustment.”

Eventually, Linda’s photography began to encompass pictures of nature and animals and, eventually, she had a lot of photos.

So, she decided to make a calendar.

“I thought, what better way to use my pictures,” she said.

She produced a full colour 2021 calendar and printed 500 of them, not knowing what to expect. What she did know, was that all of the proceeds were going to go to the Hospice Erie Shores Campus. And those proceeds totalled a whopping $13,000. S

he sold them at Peanut Centre Nursery and Cindy’s Garden and they sold out quickly.

Linda Enns displaying her newest fundraising campaign.

With the success of the calendars, Linda decided to venture out a little more into the fundraising side and has now produced 28 different greeting cards. There are seven categories, with each category having four different photos.

This campaign is called Cards for a Cause and she already has her two retailers on board with this idea.

“I’ve found my passion,” she said. “It’s calming and peaceful.”

The greeting cards are blank inside, allowing purchasers to write whatever they’d like in them. On the outside, they are adorned with one of Linda’s photos.

Erie Shores Health Foundation Executive Director Christine Colautti, is thrilled with Linda’s commitment.

“Linda’s pictures, along with her spirit, are beautiful,” she said. “Our community is blessed to have Linda supporting our local hospice.”

“Anyone blessed to have crossed paths with Linda knows that, unbeknownst to her, she has a true gift that makes you want to be a better person,” added ESHF Donor Relations Coordinator Tracy Oswald.