Do you love to sing? Do you want to helo others? Interested individuals should be on the looking for a meeting on Apr. 8 about forming a comfort choir to provide music to those in Moose Jaw who are in need of joy.
Tara Gish, one of the organizers of the choir, heard support for the idea of providing such a service in Moose Jaw, and has set forth to put together a group of volunteers to do just that.
Comfort choirs sing at the bedside of patients in palliative care, and Gish hopes to be offering her choir’s services to those in both hospice or care homes as well as in their own home.
“It's just a lovely type of gift we hope to be able to offer people who are facing some challenges,” said Gish. “We certainly want to be patient-centered and responsive to what patients want to hear. But of course, the whole idea is that it's not entertainment, it's an offering of a gift.”
She said they are currently looking for singers as well as some administrative volunteers, to help with scheduling and other tasks once the choir begins offering services. The goal is to begin practicing as soon as possible to build a repertoire of music, and to offer their voices on request by summertime.
“We do want to choose songs that would respond to the client's musical tastes and their particular spiritual orientation, and whatever their current needs are at the time,” said Gish. “So we want to be able to serve a broad number of people regardless of their particular beliefs.”
Choirs such as this one exist in a number of cities across Canada, but this will be the first of its kind in Moose Jaw. Gish is hopeful that patients and caregivers in the city will appreciate their singing.
“I've been in touch with some of the homes in the health authority here and I know Providence Place has expressed a keen interest in this type of service and are looking forward us being able to get up and running,” said Gish.
“I suspect that once people know that this is available, it may be difficult to fulfill all the requests because it is such a wonderful thing to do.”
Those interested are to contact Tara Gish by phone, at (306) 690-8992, and judging on the amount of interest expressed and the number of people, the address of the meeting will be decided and provided before the night of Apr. 8.
