By Andrew Macdonald
The other month, Geri Donovan died at age 98. She is Lara’s grandmother and spent the last few years of her life living in Chester Basin with her daughter, Maureen Donovan.
Her son, Paul Donovan, penned an obituary that was printed in The Globe & Mail, It’s worth a read, click here.
Geri also briefly lived in Halifax, following the 2008 passing of her beloved husband, Bob Donovan, an entrepreneur who rests eternally at Antigonish’s St. Ninian’s Cemetery, where Geri was recently buried.
Geri Donovan was a strong promoter and helped raise funds for Spencer House, a senior’s operation that provides activities and meals for seniors in Southend Halifax. Last year, Geri reminded The Macdonald Notebook that the Spencer House phone number is (902) 421-6131, and there is one staff manning the lines who will look after donors.
“They can leave a message and the call will be answered because the staffer is working skeleton hours, and they do operate normally with a shoestring budget,” added daughter Maureen.
Spencer House has 300 senior citizen members, who pay an annual fee of $18. Many in the general public would be familiar with Spencer House because, for each municipal, provincial or federal election, the building serves as a voting booth.
Spencer House is a drop-in for seniors, “a senior’s day centre, and they serve a hot meal Monday to Friday at a cost of $7 per plate,” added Geri Donovan. “It’s a marvelous meal,” she told The Notebook. “Anyone can go in from the general public and pay $9 for outside members.”
The centre even attracts seniors from outside the city. “People from Truro, who are shopping in the city, have also discovered Spencer House, and they come for lunch,” said Geri, when The Macdonald Notebook published a story in 2023 on Spencer House.
Maureen says the board that runs Spencer House is top-notch. “I would describe them as saints.”
Geri was a regular visitor to Spencer House during the decade she lived on Halifax’s Morris Street. “I had a meal there at least three times a week because it was such a fun place to socialize. It has a very good spirit. The people who go there are people who live alone in apartments, and by having Spencer House, they have another place to visit and spend the hours.”
“It is owned by the city, the building, The city is a solid supporter of Spencer House. Most of the funding comes from private sources,” says Maureen.
One major autumn fundraiser at the senior’s complex includes a well-attended bridge game, which last fall raised $30,000 for Spencer House. The bridge event is hosted by Jason and Joe Shannon’s Parkland on the Gardens by Shannex.
It’s in its seventh annual year for the fun fundraiser next November.
Last fall’s sponsors for the bridge tournament included the Bank of Nova Scotia, Parklands on the Gardens, Southwest Properties, and Halifax Bridge World. Past donors have also included leading condo and apartment developer Danny Chedrawe.
The charity card event is always a convivial evening of Bridge playing and socializing, and the aim is always to give Spencer House a significant financial boost at a time when the centre is exploring ways to expand its role in the community.
Halifax Bridge World puts on the match, and it was founded as a not-for-profit 35 years ago. Geri taught Maureen how to play Bridge when she was a youngster.
The Bridge playing will follow a reception with complimentary hors d’oeuvres prepared by a skilled cook, and beverages served by Spencer House board members.
Last year, Spencer House honoured Geri Donovan at a gala at The Berkeley. One of The Macdonald Notebook writers report on the event. Here is an encore presentation of that event:
At Spencer House, An Evolving Approach To Supporting Seniors – Celebrating 40-Years At Gala; Honouring Gerry Donovan
By Avery Mullen – Published Oct. 7, 2023.
A team of more than 40 volunteers and a fruitful funding partnership with The Berkeley retirement community has helped Halifax-based seniors non-profit Spencer House keep pace with growing demand for its services in recent years, co-chair Maureen Donovan tells The Macdonald Notebook.
The Spencer House seniors centre, which is located on Morris Street in Halifax, celebrated its 40th anniversary this week. It offers a range of services, such as community activities including exercise classes, hot breakfasts and lunches for just $2 and $7, respectively, and even will help with filing taxes.
“We approached The Berkeley for a little help,” said Donovan. “We had something in mind, we had a need for a small breakfast program for our members.
“We were expecting either a ‘Well, we’ll see what we can do,’ or a small cheque. That’s not what happened. They embraced us fully. They offered to fund the program for a year, and now they’re funding it for another year.”
At a fundraising event Thursday evening that featured CTV News at 5 producer and co-host Jason Baxter as a guest speaker, the organizations honoured one of its former board members and Maureen Donovan’s mother, Gerry Donovan.
“I’ll fix you fellas — I’ll talk for an hour!” joked Gerry Donovan after she was presented with a lifetime membership to Spencer House in honour of her work for the centre.
The elder Donovan’s contributions to Spencer House, laid out in a series of speeches from her fellow board members, spanned decades. One of her most notable efforts was advocating for keeping the centre’s doors open during a period in the summer of 2014, when most of the rest of the board believed that “the closing of Spencer House was now a likelihood, and perhaps steps should be taken quickly,” in the words of board secretary and emcee for Thursday’s event Mark DeWolf.
Maureen Donovan said that with some private sector organizations, like banks, turning away from funding seniors organizations, people who want to support Spencer House can best do so by donating.
At the time, uncertain funding and declining membership were imperiling Spencer House’s viability. But Gerry Donovan argued strongly against rolling up operations, citing the extent to which the organization’s members continued to rely on it in their daily lives.
CTV News at 5 host Jason Baxter said a large proportion of his viewers are seniors.
Not only did she succeed in convincing her colleagues to give the centre more time, but by the next board meeting in September, the beginnings of a turn around for the centre were already in the works.
“You’re all here tonight honouring Spencer House because it is such a special place,” said Gerry Donovan in a speech. “It’s an example of what we should have in this city as a whole.
Mark DeWolf speaks at a Spencer House fundraiser Thursday.
“How good is it for someone living alone to get up in the morning, come to Spence House, and someone says ‘hi’? You can’t buy that.”
Michael Donovan, Gerry Donovan’s son and previously the CEO of media company DHX, with Grant Thornton partner Matt Gallant.
The majority of Spencer House’s clients, Maureen Donovan later elaborated, are those with lower incomes, like retirees who have been out of the workforce long enough that their pensions are no longer indexed to the cost of living. And even those who do have more funds may rely on Spencer House for a social support network or help navigating an increasingly digitized world.
Berkeley president Diane Campbell and general manager Lorna Devoe.
Jason Baxter, the CTV News host, added that Spencer House and its members highlight the extent to which it is possible for people to enjoy a high quality of life, even as they age.
“To be able to advocate, and to help and to be there for seniors in our community, we appreciate it,” he said, referring to CTV News’s viewership, a large proportion of whom are themselves seniors.
Spencer House board members Mark DeWolf, Ellen Pottie, Glen Amirault and Judith Bonnell.
“These are uncertain times that we’re living in, we all know that, with the pandemic, the cost of living going up…so we all can use the help we can get. As you can tell by my hair colour, I’m getting close to this age myself, so Spencer House, thank you very much for doing what you do in our community.”
NDP Halifax Citadel-Sable Island MLA Lisa Lachance and Kathleen Macdonald. (The Notebook/Avery Mullen).
Spencer House’s close relationship with The Berkeley, which has four locations in Halifax and hosted the event honouring Gerry Donovan at its Gladstone Street property, came as Maureen Donovan and her team were in need of new sources of funding.
Tricia Morrison, Jane Filbee and Adrian Morrison. (The Notebook/Avery Mullen).
“After Covid, there’s been a lot more food insecurity and mental health issues,” said Maureen Donovan. “We’ve had seniors who were cooped up. And that was really hard on everybody, even though we did a lot of outreach, delivering food hampers, for example, on a fairly regular basis.
“But we’ve kept a lot of those outreach things (after the pandemic).”
Pianist Don MacRae provided some pre-event entertainment Thursday. (Avery Mullen/The Notebook).
Not only has the partnership with The Berkeley come during a period of increased demand for Spencer House’s services, but also adding to the organization’s need for funding has been a change in its human resource policies. Executive director Allison Davis has spearheaded a push to pay the organization’s handful of salaried employees more competitive wages in a bid to retain staff and secure the non-profit’s long-term, organizational sustainability.
From left to right, Joe Green, Elizabeth DeLorey and Michael Sherar. (Avery Mullen/The Notebook)
That imperative looks as pressing as ever, with Maurine Donovan adding that many of the private sector organizations that have historically funded seniors’ organizations like Spencer House increasingly prefer to spend their charitable dollars on children- or mental health-related initiatives.
“All of the banks, seniors are not on their radar,” said Donovan. “Seniors are easy to ignore.”
That is one reason Spencer House has been fundraising significantly from private donors, with a goal of collecting $40,000 in donations to celebrate its anniversary and about three quarters of that already secured.
“Money is the best thing,” said Maureen Donovan, asked how people can contribute. “We have fabulous volunteers, we’ve got fantastic staff, but the costs of doing business these days go up, no down.
“We’ve got millions of fabulous ideas, and we’d love to keep them going and implement them.”
At its 40th anniversary Ruby Gala, Gerry Donovan was given a lifetime achievement award from Spencer House. (Facebook).
As for Gerry Donovan, on Facebook, Spencer House states:
