Mom passed away on February 13, 2012, and this all came about because of her. She lived her life in Salmon Arm and was always giving her time and energy for some cause or another. She would ring the bells for the Salvation Army, canvas for CNIB, Heart & Stroke, Cancer, and other causes, a 50 year member of the Rebekahs, volunteer at the Thrift Store and Seniors Drop in Centre. She ran the Saturday
night bingos at the Seniors so that the Centre could give thousands away to charity each year. She was described often as a “going concern”.
When she passed, we started a fund at the Shuswap Community Foundation called Rosemarie’s Fund (registered as an endowment fund) . It’s for good things in and around the Shuswap in her name. She loved this place and the people who lived here. We wanted to create something that would grow her fund and hopefully be a way for us all to remember her and her philosophy - do it because you care. Mom was always a saver - she would save items that she thought someone else might be able to use. It might be a pair of used crutches or a snazzy hat that someone decided they didn’t like, she always thought about someone else being able to benefit. This is my opportunity to think of someone else. As a woman who enjoys shopping, I have bought shoes that were on sale for the outfit I didn’t have (but were on SALE!), shoes that I bought that pinched and never were to be worn again, and shoes that just spoke to me at the time. Don’t get me started on the purses! I realized I wasn’t alone. Shoes and bags reside in every woman’s closet that didn’t quite work out. Rather than collect dust in my closet when I can’t quite bear to give them away, let someone else be thrilled with those new heels, that fabulous new bag, or those kick ass boots. Kathryn Vennard, Founder
