The Kordyban Lodge is quickly approaching its 10th year of operation, and has housed and helped hundreds of cancer patients from Williams Lake to the Yukon.
People undergoing cancer treatment in Prince George who live out of town in the north can come and stay at the lodge, one of seven of its kind across Canada.
Before it opened in 2013, Kelowna had
the closest similar service.
Inside the lodge, people are fed three home-cooked meals a day, have access to multiple lounge rooms, recreational spaces, and libraries, and are within walking distance of the B.C. Cancer Agency Centre for the North.
All for $31.50 a day.
“Right now we are at about 25 people in house,” said Jodi Drover, a Client Services Coordinator.
Max capacity is normally 36 people, but Drover said because of pandemic restrictions the max capacity is 18 – but each can have a caregiver or support person.
“It is a really important service for people who are going through a tough time, arguably the most tough time of their lives,” she said.
“Having to be away from home, having to go through something so traumatic… they can come here and we can take at least one worry off of their heads.”
Bill Howell, from Fort St James, has been staying at the Lodge for three weeks after receiving a prostate cancer diagnosis from his annual checkup.
“My radiation started three weeks ago. It goes Monday to Friday, and through that period of time I get radiation every day,” Howell told My PG Now.
Despite the circumstances, he had nothing but great things to say about his time at the lodge.
“It is wonderful,” Howell said. “the staff here are excellent, the cooks are great, we have great meals. I haven’t lost any weight since I’ve been here… this place is a five-star hotel, you can’t ask for anything better.”
December tends to be donation season, and the Canadian Cancer Society and Kordyban Lodge rely on donations to continue operating.
“Donations to the Canadian Cancer Society help us,” said Drover.
“Donating to the holiday campaign is so important right now. Cancer is not taking a break, lets help those people starting or in the midst of their cancer journey to get through this season.”
Howell said he had never considered the Cancer Society as an option before coming to stay at the lodge.
“I always threw money in for the Terry Fox, but man oh man this is an eye opener,” he said. “I’ll go home now, they are going to get my money.”
“You can’t go wrong. Every nickel and dime is spent well worth it. The people on the outside who are elderly, like myself, that don’t have the money, if they did not have this facility here they would not come in for cancer treatments.”
For more information on the Canadian Cancer Society’s holiday donation campaign, click here.
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