NO one could have predicted how popular the sale of a DVD featuring Lindo's television commercials 'Adverts and the Untold Stories' would be.

Within the first two weeks of its release last December, 500 copies were sold.

Since then the Lindo's Group of Companies has sold an additional 256 copies with all the proceeds going to Agape House.

To date, the sale of the DVD has raised $8,620 for Friends of Hospice, the fundraising arm of Agape House, which cared for the Lindo's family matriarch, Marion Lindo, who died last year.

"We wanted to honour the memory of my grandmother by giving back to the community," her grandson and IT manager for Lindo's Group of Companies, Zach Moniz, told the Mid-Ocean News.

"Since everyone loves the locally-produced Lindo's television adverts, creating a DVD of all the untold stories that went along with the making of these commercials seemed like a wonderful way to raise funds for Agape House, which provided such support to my grandmother in her time of need.

"We have been amazed by the public response to the sale of these DVDs."

Recalling some of his fondest memories of this grandmother, Mr. Moniz said his grandmother had a heart of gold and nerves of steel.

One year she took him and his seven cousins to the United States on holiday for an entire month.

"My grandmother and grandfather took all eight grandchildren.

"I don't know how she did it, I guess we were pretty good children," he said.

Established in 1990 to provide quality end of life palliative care for terminally ill patients, Agape House was Mrs. Lindo's final home before she died two weeks before Easter.

Mr. Moniz praised the organisation and said his grandmother's final journey was made all the more special by staff and family who were able to spend quality time with her before she died.

"When you see Agape House in action you understand what an important place it is and how important it is to the fabric of our community," he added.

Describing Mrs. Lindo as a "great lady", Agape House's acting clinical leader Roseann Key recalled Mrs. Lindo's time at the facility.

"I think the family were at their wits' end because of the pain she was in, and they respected the care we gave to her here and we always made them feel welcome. We are different from a hospital, because we make it a family unit. We also become families to a lot of the patients," she said.

Agape House aims to provide patients with unconditional physical, emotional and spiritual comfort for the remainder of their life, no matter what the illness or the stage of its progression. And yet the public still thinks of the facility simply as a "place you go to die", according to staff nurse Merlyn Burgess.

She pointed out that during the time patients are there, they enjoy what time they have left with their families: "It's all about the quality of life they are given even as they die."

Mrs. Key added that in some cases, patients even go home and are simply transferred to Agape House because as a small unit, they are able to spend more quality time with them.

"A lot of people still fear us thinking you only come here to die, but you come here to live, whatever time you have left," she added.

There are currently 11 residents at Agape House, which can accommodate 12, and the facility relies on the community to continue the important work it does.

Friends of Hospice chairperson Gertie Barker thanked Lindo's for the generous contribution and said the money would most likely be used to purchase transportation for patients.

"We are just so appreciative of everything they have done," she said. "As a charity, we are totally committed to improving the quality of life for residents at Agape House and this money will help make their final journey all the more comfortable."