HALIFAX — A circle of friends who lost a close companion to cervical cancer have channelled their grief into a concerted effort to improve women’s health care in Nova Scotia, raising roughly $4.5 million for hospital equipment and infrastructure.
From personal loss to public fundraising
Deanne Reeve died of cervical cancer in 2020. In the months and years that followed, two of her friends — Liz Rigney and Sheri Morgan — kept returning to the same question: could earlier detection and better resources have changed the outcome?
"Her passing left us very devoid. We just felt like her passing had been such a loss," said Rigney.
That sense of loss helped spark the creation of the Orchid Women’s Health Initiative in 2023. What began as a desire to honour a friend has grown into a fundraising movement that has targeted equipment and infrastructure needs for women’s health services in the Halifax Regional Municipality.
Money for equipment and infrastructure
The initiative has focussed on raising funds for the QEII Foundation, the hospital foundation connected to Nova Scotia Health’s largest health centre. Organizers say ticket sales from this year’s gala, held in Halifax on Saturday night, contributed to the total.
Organizers report that, to date, the Orchid initiative and its supporters have raised about $4.5 million. The money is earmarked for purchases and upgrades intended to improve detection, diagnosis and care for women in the region.
Community ties and mobilisation
Morgan, who met Reeve almost 40 years ago through their husbands, described how the group’s personal connections helped sustain momentum. Friends, family and local donors have come together around a shared purpose: ensuring future patients have access to high-end technology and improved infrastructure that could support earlier diagnosis.
The initiative’s organisers say the work is a tangible response to the uncertainty and frustration that followed Reeve’s death, a reminder of the gaps that can exist in the health system and the role communities can play in filling them.
- Orchid Women’s Health Initiative founded in 2023
- Funds raised to date: about $4.5 million
- Primary beneficiary: QEII Foundation; funds targeted for women’s health technology and infrastructure
Practical impact and next steps
While specific equipment purchases or projects funded by the Orchid initiative were not detailed in the organizers' public materials, hospital foundations typically channel donations toward diagnostic technology, surgical equipment, renovation of clinical spaces and other capital needs that can directly affect patient care. Organizers say ongoing fundraising, including annual galas, will continue to be a mainstay of their approach.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Initiative founded | 2023 |
| Funds raised | About $4.5 million |
| Primary beneficiary | QEII Foundation (Halifax) |
The story of the Orchid initiative underscores both the emotional impetus for local philanthropy and the concrete outcomes that can follow. For Rigney and Morgan, and for the other friends involved, fundraising is an act of remembrance but also an investment in preventing future loss.
“We wanted to do something that would make a difference,” Morgan has said, reflecting a determination shared by the group. The funds raised so far have given them the leverage to press for improvements. The organisers expect further fundraising activities will expand what can be purchased or upgraded at health-care facilities serving women across the region.
As the Orchid Women’s Health Initiative moves forward, its founders say they will continue to highlight gaps in women’s health care and work with the QEII Foundation to ensure donations are directed toward projects that demonstrably improve detection and treatment.
For now, the legacy of one woman’s life is being measured in machines, renovated spaces and the promise of earlier diagnosis — outcomes her friends hope will spare others the same grief.
