Public donates $12,000 to assist widow Mrs O
The community has rallied behind the cause of elderly widow Mrs O, a housebound 98-year-old suffering from dementia and in need of constant care.Two weeks after the Lady Cubitt Compassionate Association (LCCA) stepped forward to collect donations, the organisation reported receiving $12,000 from generous members of the public.Many of the donations have been anonymous, LCCA executive director Veronica Harvey said.“This is a first for us,” Ms Harvey said. “We have never collected like this before. We just offered our services, and the use of our bank account, because there had been such an outcry.”A report on Mrs O by The Royal Gazette revealed that, without savings to provide for her full-time care, the elderly woman was left housebound and largely alone.She is currently ineligible for Government financial aid, since she holds a life-interest in the property.Ms Harvey said the LCCA was collecting on behalf of Liz Stewart, Senior Vice President at Alterra Bermuda, who stepped forward to assist Mrs O and help find her full-time care.“We offer a means of accepting money to pay towards Mrs O,” she explained. “We haven’t been involved in any follow-up care. I have told Ms Stewart to bring us invoices and we will disburse the funds.”She said people had dropped in to the LCCA’s office on Bermudiana Road or called to report donations.“People have just been passing us comments saying how sad her situation is.”Mrs O suffers from dementia and diabetes. She has been receiving assistance from a former employer, but her helper can no longer afford to provide professional care.lTo give to the LCCA, please send donations to PO Box HM 64, Hamilton HM AX, or to LCCA, 26 Bermudiana Road, International Ctr Suite 211, Hamilton HM 11.The LCCA’s account is 010-287-209-001 at HSBC Bank.Please specify that donations are for Mrs O, or call the LCCA at 292-1132 to notify them.