Sunset Palliative care is hitting a big milestone this year. 

This year marks their 25th anniversary of operating in Portage la Prairie. 

Coordinator Aldene Moroz outlines some of their achievements.

"We've continued to provide bereavement grief support groups. We have a memory garden over at Island Park, we have our Christmas Dinner of Hope, which is always attended very well," says Moroz. "We have education and training programs for volunteers, as well as we provide it for 16 members of staff from Douglas Campbell Lodge. 

Sunset Palliative Care is partially funded by United Way Central Plains. The majority of the money they receive comes from memorial donations and fundraising.

Moroz says she's seen a lot of change since the program started. 

"We just we wanted to improve some of the programs that were there, but we felt that people weren't aware of this in the community," says Moroz. "That was the most important part of our program we wanted people to be aware of it and call in and use it." 

The palliative care unit is growing. They're adding a third room in the Portage Hospital. Other plans for the future include expanding the memory garden and upgrading the beds in palliative care rooms. Moroz outlines why Palliative Care is needed in Portage. 

"Palliative care is growing, as you know, there's a lot of aging baby boomers, and more and more people have life-threatening illnesses. Just because someone has an illness that might only last two months, We also do provide it for people who have a life-threatening illness like dementia, where there's no family around, we do provide volunteers for that as well," says Moroz. "That is very important. We don't want those people to feel isolated and alone." 

Sunset Palliative Care is hosting a 25th Anniversary celebration tomorrow. The celebration takes place at Island Park Pavilion from 2p.m. to 4 p.m. and features a rainbow auction, cake and refreshments, and music by Johnny Dietrich and the Sharpe Sisters.