Wild Rose Donates $30,000 to Pelvic Floor Clinic

Submitted by Patti Nolan 
  

Eighteen members strong, the Canadian Progress Club Calgary Wild Rose recently made a $30,000 donation through the Calgary Health Trust to the Pelvic Floor Clinic at the Grace Women’s Health Centre.

Dr. Magali Robert, Divisional Chief for the Division of Urogynecology in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the Medical Director for the Pelvic Floor Clinic, who was on hand to receive the cheque, explains “every time I hear of someone making a donation to the Pelvic Floor Clinic it always amazes me how far we’ve come.”

In 2004, the Pelvic Floor Clinic renovated and expanded the Pelvic Floor Clinic at the Grace Women’s Health Centre to better serve the more than 300,000 women within Southern Alberta and Southeastern British Columbia suffering from pelvic floor disorders.

Women’s health is an area close to the hearts of the Calgary Wild Roses.  “As a group of women, it makes sense to support women’s health initiatives in our community.  We have mothers, sisters and daughters and we want to ensure that they have access to the very best health care possible,” explains Patti Nolan, President of the Canadian Progress Club Calgary Wild Rose.

Funds raised this year, through a casino, will go towards the purchase of an EMG / Biofeedback modality for the Pelvic Floor Clinic.  This technology will help patients retrain the pelvic floor while enabling the physiotherapist to view the impact of stimulation.

Supporting women’s health initiatives in Calgary has been the focus of the Club’s fundraising efforts in recent years.  They have helped fund new ultrasound technology, blood pressure monitors for obstetrics and gynecology and outreach programming for marginalized women living in our community.

“A lot of organizations support the popular charities and although they’re important we wanted to support an area of care that wasn’t as high profile and therefore could really benefit from our giving.”

There are seven Progress clubs in Calgary with a membership of approximately 250 volunteers.  Each chapter has its own distinct personality and chooses the organizations they feel strongly about supporting.  In 2004 alone, Progress Clubs in Calgary donated over $1 million in support of charitable organizations in our community.