Grace Hospice Foundation
Grace Hospice Foundation raises money for use in hospices in Eastern Oklahoma.
Director Sharon Doty says Grace Hospice Foundation was formed in 2003 to accomplish three purposes. The first purpose is to educate the community about hospice care and hospice services and the value that they are to people in the last stages of life. The second purpose is to address and accomplish little things for dying patients. For example purchasing Bibles for patients who can no longer read their Bible and they need a large print Bible. Another example was when Grace put in a wii game system at an in-home hospice. Doty says, “It was a game that terminal patients could spend time with their grandchildren doing.” The third purpose of Grace Hospice Foundation, and Doty says is probably the main objective, is to raise funds to subsidize the care for those who don’t have insurance or personal resources to pay for hospice. She says that Oklahoma is the only state that doesn’t have a medicaid benefit for hospice, so there are no resources for people under the age of 65 with a short term prognosis. “What we want to be able to do is raise the money to fund those patients or to subsidize those costs to local hospices so that more of them have the opportunity to get the quality care that hospice offers,” Doty explains. She says that she became involved in Grace Hospice Foundation a couple of years ago and in January she was asked by the founder to help “re-imagine” Grace Hospice Foundation.
Grace Hospice Foundation raises money primarily through two ways: memorial donations and an annual fundraiser called Grace Goes Country. “Is a boot-stomping good time at the historic Cain’s Ballroom in Tulsa on the evening of September 21st.” The event includes music from the Red Dirt Rangers, line dancing, and Rib Crib barbecue. There will also be a live auction with items like like an elliptigo, trips, and skydiving. “Our funds are to support people in the last stages of life so our auction supports people in living life fully,“ Doty says. Tickets for this event can be purchased on their website. There are only 300 tickets available and many of those have already been purchased. The other form of raising money Grace Hospice Foundation has is memorial donations. Doty says that one way to honor the life of a deceased family member or loved one is through memorials to Grace Hospice Foundation. Memorials are encouraged in order to make hospice care possible for others. Families who are the recipients of memorials are notified about who made the donations. Memorials can be given at GraceHospiceFoundation.org to pay directly online on their website. Donors can also mail checks to their address on their website.
“$141.71 is what it costs everyday for hospice care for a patient with no funding,” Doty says. She says that Grace Hospice Foundation will have a campaign focusing on this figure to encourage people to give toward that daily cost. Also Grace Hospice Foundation hosts the Ms. Senior Oklahoma Pageant which honors and recognizes the wisdom and the years of women who are currently living in continuous care. The Ms. Senior Oklahoma Pageant is August 25th, 2012 from 2:00p.m. to 4:00p.m. at TCC VanTrease Performing Arts Center on 81st Street and Highway 169 in Tulsa. Tickets for children, seniors, and adults range from $4 to $8 and can be purchased through the TCC VanTrease Performing Arts Center at 918-595-7777.
GraceHospiceFoundation.org
facebook.com/gracehospicefoundation
