Community members support hospice through Have a Heart for Hospice dinner and auction
As Colleen Nettleton, Hospice and Palliative Care of Greater Wayne County executive director, looked out at the 175 community members gathered at the Greenbriar Conference and Party Center for the Have a Heart for Hospice dinner and auction Feb. 25, she couldn’t help but to be moved.
“As a hospice team we feel very supported in this community and that is really evident by your attendance here this evening and all these donations and all the sponsors who provided financial backing for this event,” said Nettleton.
Throughout the evening patrons placed bids on 80 silent auction items donated by local businesses, organizations and individuals, including season tickets for local sports teams, dinner packages, children’s items, golf packages and original works of art.
During the live auction that followed dinner, there was spirited bidding for more than a dozen one-of-a-kind items including Ohio State and Cavs tickets, diamond jewelry, an autographed Peyton Hillis football and an Indians jersey autographed by Shin Soo Choo.
According to Tammy Cruise, hospice community liaison, when the night was over the organization met its goal of raising $15,000 to support hospice’s ever growing needs.
“We’ve really come a long way since we started back in 1982,” said Nettleton.
“That first year we served eight patients and we contracted the nurses from the health department. As we’ve grown in size in terms of serving patients we’ve also grown in the services we provide,” said Nettleton, adding that last year the organization served 682 hospice patients and 420 patients in the palliative care program.
Nettleton noted that fundraising efforts are necessary in part because the organization serves patients regardless of their ability to pay.
“We are very fortunate though that we don’t have to do as much fundraising as we might because of our relationship with Friendtique…Since the fall of 2004 when they opened their doors they have donated $400,000 to hospice,” said Nettleton.
The family of one of the patients served by hospice was on hand to share the remarkable story of how the organization impacted their lives.
Glenda Shilling described how hospice enabled her family to bring her mother, Buehla Myers, home from the nursing home in which she had lived for the previous 18 months when they were advised that she may have as little as a few weeks to live.
“When mom was wheeled into the house she smiled and said with wonder, ‘I’m home’,” said Shilling.
The family saw an immediate improvement in her condition. With hospice’s help throughout the five months before she passed away last March, Myer was able to reunite with a sister whom she hadn’t been able to communicate with in years and enjoy time getting to know her 6-year-old great-granddaughter.
“We have so many precious memories of her last days,” said Shilling.
When Myers condition worsened, Shilling observed a hospice nurse gently pat her mother’s arm and look at her “with such kindness and compassion that I have thought so many times that that was the face of hospice.”
While losing Myers has been difficult, the family has been comforted by the fact that “because of hospice we were able to give her what she wanted more than anything this side of heaven – that her last days could be spent in her own home,” said Shilling.
“You have taught me that hospice is not just about dying. It is more about living a life as comfortable as possible to the end and giving peace to the families who are left behind,” said Shilling.
To learn more about Hospice and Palliative Care of Greater Wayne County, log on http://www.wchospice.org. Information on Friendtique can be found at http://www.friendtique.org.
“As a hospice team we feel very supported in this community and that is really evident by your attendance here this evening and all these donations and all the sponsors who provided financial backing for this event,” said Nettleton.
Throughout the evening patrons placed bids on 80 silent auction items donated by local businesses, organizations and individuals, including season tickets for local sports teams, dinner packages, children’s items, golf packages and original works of art.
During the live auction that followed dinner, there was spirited bidding for more than a dozen one-of-a-kind items including Ohio State and Cavs tickets, diamond jewelry, an autographed Peyton Hillis football and an Indians jersey autographed by Shin Soo Choo.
According to Tammy Cruise, hospice community liaison, when the night was over the organization met its goal of raising $15,000 to support hospice’s ever growing needs.
“We’ve really come a long way since we started back in 1982,” said Nettleton.
“That first year we served eight patients and we contracted the nurses from the health department. As we’ve grown in size in terms of serving patients we’ve also grown in the services we provide,” said Nettleton, adding that last year the organization served 682 hospice patients and 420 patients in the palliative care program.
Nettleton noted that fundraising efforts are necessary in part because the organization serves patients regardless of their ability to pay.
“We are very fortunate though that we don’t have to do as much fundraising as we might because of our relationship with Friendtique…Since the fall of 2004 when they opened their doors they have donated $400,000 to hospice,” said Nettleton.
The family of one of the patients served by hospice was on hand to share the remarkable story of how the organization impacted their lives.
Glenda Shilling described how hospice enabled her family to bring her mother, Buehla Myers, home from the nursing home in which she had lived for the previous 18 months when they were advised that she may have as little as a few weeks to live.
“When mom was wheeled into the house she smiled and said with wonder, ‘I’m home’,” said Shilling.
The family saw an immediate improvement in her condition. With hospice’s help throughout the five months before she passed away last March, Myer was able to reunite with a sister whom she hadn’t been able to communicate with in years and enjoy time getting to know her 6-year-old great-granddaughter.
“We have so many precious memories of her last days,” said Shilling.
When Myers condition worsened, Shilling observed a hospice nurse gently pat her mother’s arm and look at her “with such kindness and compassion that I have thought so many times that that was the face of hospice.”
While losing Myers has been difficult, the family has been comforted by the fact that “because of hospice we were able to give her what she wanted more than anything this side of heaven – that her last days could be spent in her own home,” said Shilling.
“You have taught me that hospice is not just about dying. It is more about living a life as comfortable as possible to the end and giving peace to the families who are left behind,” said Shilling.
To learn more about Hospice and Palliative Care of Greater Wayne County, log on http://www.wchospice.org. Information on Friendtique can be found at http://www.friendtique.org.
Published: March 2, 2011
