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PO Box 2584
35911 Kenai Spur Highway, Suite 9
Soldotna, AK 99669
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Phone 907-262-0453
Fax 907-262-4961
www.hospiceofcentralpeninsula.com
May 2015, Volume 10, Issue 1
Serving the Central Peninsula since 1987
Board of Directors
President:
Reean Pitts
Vice President:
Paul Landen
Secretary:
Teri Birchfield
Treasurer:
Tom Boedeker
Members:
Sandi Crawford,
Jodi Hanson, Judy Keck-Walsh,
Tony Oliver, Ruthann Truesdell,
and Brooke Straume.
Volunteers Provide Much Needed and Appreciated Help
Executive Director
Gale Robison
hospice@acsalaska.net
Bereavement Coordinator
Lee Coray-Ludden
hospice.ber.coor@alaska.net
Administrative Support
Janice Nightingale
hospice.admin@alaska.net
Volunteer Editor
Noreen Sullivan
Volunteers are the backbone of
our local Hospice. Both individuals and organizations step up
to help in raising funds, participating in work projects, and
volunteering their time.
The Annual Winter Wine Taste
and Auction is the major fund
raiser that Hospice sponsors.
This year it was held at the
Soldotna Catholic Church Fireweed Fellowship Hall.
In September 2014, David, Lucas, and Daryl
from Tesoro Alaska helped organize our loan
closet. United Way sponsors an annual Day
of Caring allowing employees to help nonprofits with projects.
Chatting with Gale. FROM GALE ROBISON, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
As I begin my second year as executive director of Hospice of the Central Peninsula, I look back at all that
has been accomplished. I discovered what a great service hospice provides for our Kenai Peninsula
community. The businesses and individuals I have come in contact with have been most generous and
giving in several ways. Our board of directors are some of the most committed individuals I have come in
contact with in all my years of working with board members. They care deeply about our community and the hospice
organizational services. Our all part-time staff gives a full-time effort. Each of the staff brings skills and experiences that have
helped our programs and services grow. I encourage you to stop by the office any time and get to know us. We all have hearts for
hospice and believe in what we can do to support families in their hours of grief.
Hospice has been active in the community with many presentations of our Five Wishes® program. We have presented at both the
Kenai and Sterling Senior Center as well as the Community School programs in Soldotna and at local churches. Lee, our
bereavement coordinator, has worked hard to make workshops available to residents in both Kenai and Soldotna that address the
needs of grieving. Her presentations have addressed both the loss of loved ones by children and also the challenges of the
experiencing the grief of holidays.
We have enjoyed meeting people at many of our peninsula activities such as health fairs, Industry Appreciation Day, United Way
events, our annual Winter Wine Taste and Auction event, and our open house. The durable loan closet has seen an average of 1318 individuals on a weekly basis. We are proud to provide durable equipment free of charge to all community residents. In
addition, our library has excellent reference material for all ages and life experience related to grief and the dying process.
I look forward to the next year and what it will allow us to do. The services of Hospice of the Central Peninsula are a great comfort
to many of our residents. We are proud to provide them to each and every one who either walks through our doors or calls us for
help.
Bereavement Blurb (good grief, Charlie Brown)
First Time Jitters
In spite of the above tongue in check comment above,
bereavement is real on many different levels. I am
surprised sometimes that people are not sure what
bereavement means. Some of the definitions I found
are:
1. A period of mourning after a loss, especially after the death of a love.
2. A state of intense grief, as after the loss of a loved one, desolation.
3. The condition of having been deprived of someone or something valued,
especially through death.
4. Deprivation or loss by force (natural disaster).
Many of us may not say bereavement, we may not say mourning, and yet grief
is a very real part of life. Some find it easier to talk about other losses—those
dreams, hopes, plans that were made together, than to talk about the one
who is dead.
Like peeling the layers off an onion to get to the core, sometimes grief and
bereavement must be dealt with in layers. One layer at a time, one step at a
time, each of us is on our own individual journey. Bereavement is one word to
identify that journey, and for each of us it is a very unique one.
“The object of grieving (bereavement) is not to get over the loss or to recover
from the loss, but to get through the loss,” from Tear Soup.
Bereavement is the pathway through grief; we will all walk it and probably
more than once in our lifetime. It is ok to reach out and ask for support...
which is why we have a bereavement coordinator and bereavement
volunteers.
LEE CORAY-LUDDEN, BEREAVEMENT COORDINATOR
Continued on Page 5
Spring/Summer Calendar
Volunteers contact Janice
hospice.admin@alaska.net
May 2. 10 am —2 pm (Hospice booth)
Health Fair information and screenings.
18+ years. Blood draw for glucose, cholesterol,
triglycerides; BT, Ht., Wt. Mammography bus
on site. PCHS 230 E. Marydale, Soldotna
May 13-14. 6 pm
Training for Camp Mend-A-Heart volunteers at
Christ Lutheran Church, Soldotna
Opportunities and
Updates
Hospice of the Central Peninsula has
received 64 donor pledges totaling
$4,250.
This has been a record-setting
year for the state of Alaska and
the Pick.Click.Give program. As of
April 1st, $3.3 million has been
donated.
May 19. 5:30-7 pm
Third Tuesday—Healing Hearts Grief Support
Group. Meets at Hospice office. Call Lee
@262-0453 with questions.
May 25. Office Closed for Memorial Day
As of March 31st, we have made
$2,260. All sales are profit to Hospice
(startup costs were donated).
May 29 & 30. 6 pm—1 am (Hospice team)
Relay for Life of Central Peninsula.
Soldotna Sports Center
June 16. 5:30-7 pm
Third Tuesday—Healing Hearts Grief Support
Group. Meets at Hospice office. Call Lee
@262-0453 with questions.
June 20. (Hospice booth)
Nikiski Days—Family Fun in the Midnight Sun
On April 25, we had a thank-you tea for
our wonderful volunteers.
August 10-12
Camp Mend-A-Heart
August 22. 10 am-5 pm (Hospice booth)
Industry Appreciation Days
Coming in October:
October 16-17 and 23-24
Volunteer training
Free 3-Days Bereavement Camp
for youth ages 6-17
coming in August
Camp Mend-A-Heart will be held at Solid Rock
Camp on August 10-12 from 9 am to 3 pm. Lunch
will be provided. This is a camp for kids who have
experienced the recent death of a loved one.
Applications can be picked up at the Hospice
Office. We have limited enrollment.
This is a camp for youth who have experienced a
personal loss.
“I know a place called
Camp Mend-A-Heart.
It’s a place where
friends abound. . .
I know a place called
Camp Mend-A-Heart
It’s a place where hope
Is found”
An enjoyable, accepting & supportive
environment in which campers can freely
express their feelings about the
death of a loved one.
Under the guidance of professional
bereavement staff and hospice volunteers,
campers have the opportunity to meet
with others who have
experienced similar losses.
Fall/Spring Memorial Donations 2014-2015
In Memory of
From
Charles Bailie
............................................... Frank Kufel, Sandra Cox, Alice Rahoi,
................................. W. W. Huss, Jeanette Neel, Paul & Lisa Turner
Marvin Mattson
............................. Matanuska Telephone Association, Mary Spotts,
………………………………………………… Terry Moxey, Kenai Totem Tracers
Margaret Kruger
......................................................... J. C. Hobart, Deanna Cashman
Margaret Scott
....................................................................................... Scott Edsel
Peg Meyer
........................................................................... Margaret Zerbinos
Esther Mulcahy
.....................................................................................Terry Powell
Elizabeth Collins
....................................................................................Karen Collins
Bill Reeder
..................................................... Michael and Rhonda McCormick
Please contact Hospice of the Central Peninsula if your donation is incorrect or not acknowledged.
First-Time Jitters. Continued from page 2.
Too Soon Old
Attributed to David L. Griffith