|
|
|
Women Swimmin' Is Commin' Up
 | | photo by Jon Reis/Jon Reis Photography |
Yes, it's almost here! Women Swimmin' for Hospicare's 10th annual event will begin at dawn on August 10, at the Ithaca Yacht Club. Approximately 350 women will swim the 1.2 miles across Cayuga Lake to reach the dock at the club, where they will be greeted with cheers from supporters waiting on shore.
So far, as of August 1, our swimmers have raised almost $241,000 toward our goal of $320,000. If you'd like to support a swimmer, you can make a donation on line.
|
Give a Gift of the Heart
Make a Difference: Be a Volunteer
 |
Created by three Ithaca College students,Gifts of the Heart
is a video that takes a close look at the experience of volunteering at Hospicare.
|
Volunteers are vital to Hospicare's work in our community. We rely on them to support our patients and their families, to assist our staff at events and in the office, and to help tend our gardens and grounds. If you'd like a better idea of why your friends and neighbors volunteer at Hospicare, you might like to watch Gifts of the Heart, (click on the still frame above) a video that explores the impact of volunteering with us. Now is your chance to join the many trained, enthusiastic and compassionate community members who make up our volunteer pool. Fall volunteer training will be held on two consecutive weekends in September: September 21-22 and September 28-29, from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Attendance at all four sessions is required. Before registering for training, you must submit an application form. Once we receive the form, Wendy Yettru, manager of volunteer services, will set up an informal interview with you. To apply for fall volunteer training, click here.
|
Death Over Dinner
The Most Important Conversation Americans Are Not Having
 | |
The project's founder, Michael Hebb, gave a TED Talk this past spring. If you're short on time, start watching at the 07:00 mark.
|
Surveys have shown that many of us want to explore death, to speak about it with those we are closest to, to envision our own deaths and to change how our society deals with this inevitable ending to our lives. But we're not sure how to go about doing this. Let's Have Dinner and Talk about Death is a new nationwide project to help us initiate this important dialogue in our own homes and communities.
Let's Have Dinner and Talk about Death is just getting off the ground. Michael Hebb, one of the co-founders, gave a TED talk this spring about the project (see video above). In addition, Hebb's project has partnered with the Elisabeth Kubler-Ross Foundation to promote a global launch dinner on August 24. In communities and homes all around the world, they are suggesting we get together over dinner to talk about death--and they give pointers on how to do it. In addition, the project's website is currently in beta mode and gives an idea of how the interactive digital aspect will work.
View the Global Launch Dinner Invitation and Information.
Visit the project's website--www.deathoverdinner.org.
|
|
Care for the Caregiver
 | | Photo by Greg Balzer / Foter.com |
Caring for yourself while also caring for a loved one at the end of life can be physically and emotionally draining. The following suggestions from Hospice of Santa Cruz County focus on looking after your own wellbeing during this stressful time.
- Take a deep breath several times a day. Deep breathing brings more oxygen to every cell, refreshing body and mind.
- Stay hydrated. Drink plenty of liquids, especially water.
- Lie down for 20 minutes or sit in a recliner with your feet up.
- Ask for help. Often family, friends or neighbors want to help but do not know how. Keep a list of tasks you can ask others to do, such as shopping, watering the garden, walking the dog or going to the pharmacy.
- Determine if calls or visits are helpful or would cause more stress. It's OK to limit these as a way of honoring your own needs and private time.
|
|
Community Donations Inspire Us!
 | |
Ithaca Elks Lodge #636 present Dale Johnson, Hospicare executive director, with a donation check for $500.
|
Hospicare recently received generous donations from three community organizations. We are once again humbled by our community's support of our work and by the compassion you show again and again for our patients and their families. A big thank you to all our donors, and especially the following:
- The Homecoming Players theater group donated $400 to Hospicare. The money represented funds raised through performances of their play, In the Car with Blossom and Len.
- The American Legion Auxiliary #221 donated $3,500 for a new bed for our Nina K. Miller Residence. The Legion raised the money through a motorcycle ride around Seneca Lake, followed by a chicken dinner, silent auction and 50/50 raffle.
- The Ithaca Elks Lodge #636 donated $500 specifically to be used for the Nina K. Miller Residence.
|
|
Save the Dates!
- Women Singin': 8/6, 5:30-7:00 PM
- Evening Bereavement Support Group: 8/7 & 8/21, 5:30-7:00 PM
- Tuesday Lunch Group: 8/13, Noon
- Wednesday Breakfast Group: 8/28, 8:30 AM
- Women Swimmin': 8/10, Dawn
- Fall Volunteer Training: 9/21-22 & 9/28-29, 9:00 AM-2:00 PM
- Hospicare's 30th Anniversary Celebration: 11/8, 6:00-9:00 PM
For more information on any of the above groups or events, please call 607-272-0212, or visit our Events page to download a PDF of our current calendar.
|
|
|
Our
mission is to bring medical
expertise and compassionate, respectful care to
people and their loved ones at any stage of a life-threatening illness,
and to
provide information and education about advanced illness, dying and
bereavement
to the entire community.
|
|
|
|
|
Websites of Interest
|
A website that helps you collect critical documents and information that will be needed by your loved ones when you die.
|
|
This organization promotes the human dignity of elders and better care for those near the end of life.
|
|
Donate
Help terminally ill people spend the end of their lives peacefully and without pain.
Our Wish ListItems to make patients and their families more comfortable.
|
|
Contact us:
607.272.0212
www.hospicare.org
info@hospicare.org
 Hospicare
 Hospicare
Women Swimmin'
This newsletter's purpose is to provide timely, useful information to our friends, partners and supporters in the community. Please contact us with any comments.
|
|
