Successful Fundraising At 20th Annual Newtown Chapter Regional Hospice Breakfast

By Nancy K. Crevier

Supporters, volunteers, and administrators of Regional Hospice of Western Connecticut filled 36 tables Wednesday, June 17, at the Waterview Inn in Monroe in celebration of the 20th Annual Newtown Chapter thank you and fundraiser breakfast.

“We are very pleased at the turnout,” said Marie Sturdevant, who co-chaired the event with Marg Studley. “In this poor economy we were not sure we would get the numbers that we normally do, but we had 280 people support us today.”

Prior to the start of the 8 to 9 am breakfast, diners mingled, greeted acquaintances, and purchased tickets for the raffle items donated by local merchants. The Reverend Kathleen Adams-Shepard led the invocation promptly at 8 am, asking God to “surround with your eternal care those who struggle…” and giving thanks for the many hospice volunteers and caregivers.

While feasting on a breakfast of eggs with Hollandaise sauce, bacon, muffins, and fruit, table sponsors were on hand to serve up hot tea and coffee to the supporters at their tables. Table sponsors paid $100 to host seven guests, acted as waitstaff, and collected donations for Regional Hospice. Corporate sponsors Newtown Savings Bank, Newtown Lions Club, Union Savings Bank, and T.R. Paul donated $500 to sponsor a table of 11 guests each.

Regional Hospice director Terri Nackid took a moment to remind those gathered of the many accomplishments of Regional Hospice of Western Connecticut this past year. “We couldn’t do it without the support of the community,” said Ms Nackid. In addition to the hundreds helped by Regional Hospice, “We have helped more than 900 people at our Healing Hearts Center, thanks to the generosity of this community. In these difficult times, the community needs your support more than ever, and we thank you,” concluded Ms Nackid.

A round of applause greeted Marie Sturdevant’s announcement that Governor M. Jodi Rell had proclaimed June 17 as “Newtown Chapter Fundraising Day” in honor of the Newtown Chapter Regional Hospice’s 20th anniversary. She then introduced this year’s guest speaker, Newtown resident John Truitt.

The telling of his experience of how hospice in California five years ago provided his family with the knowledge that they were in good hands when his father rapidly declined from pancreatic cancer, and how the organization helped his father to meet his wishes during his final days was met with a respectful silence and many tear-filled eyes. Mr Truitt shared how he discovered during that long Memorial weekend how quickly life can change, and how hospice can impact a family’s life.

In under 24 hours from the time the family decided to move his father, a doctor, from the hospital to home — “My father always said, ‘A hospital is a wonderful place to go if you need medical attention, and then you get the heck out of there’” — hospice was able to meet with the family, bring Dr Truitt home, schedule and deliver the necessary medical bed and equipment, and provide a caregiver.

“My dad wanted all of us to continue our lives and not come to a halt because of his situation. Hospice gave my father what he wanted,” said Mr Truitt. “Without hospice, the whole situation would have been very different.”

His father’s time with the family and hospice was only days, but the hospice experience made those days all that his father and the family needed. “As we leave this breakfast this morning, we will go on with our lives, as I did that Friday morning five years ago,” Mr Truitt said in closing. “But one day, we might receive that urgent phone call; and we know that hospice is there to take care of us.”