Thanks to a generous opportunity from the St. Marys United Methodist Church Foundation, if you donate to our new Hospice of the Golden Isles Endowment your money gets matched in a direct donation to our non-profit. So your gift doubles!  The Hospice of the Golden Isles Endowment is being managed by the Communities of Coastal Georgia Foundation to support our mission of caring for those who need us in our five county service area of Glynn, Camden, McIntosh, Brantley, and Charlton Counties in perpetuity. It is a great investment in our community, ensuring that those who need this specialized level of comfort care that our Hospice provides, will always be able to receive it. For more information simply send an email to pattycrosby@hospice.me or call 912-617-1463. If you’d like write a check, just make it out to the Communities of Coastal Georgia Foundation and earmark in the memo line that this is a donation for the Hospice of the Golden Isles Endowment. Or you can donate with your credit card by clicking this link to the Communities of Coastal Georgia Foundation. Shown in picture from l to r: Rochelle Bevan, Office Manager SMUMC Foundation,  Karen Miller CEO (HGI,) Jeff Barker, President/CEO SMUMC Foundation, and Patty Crosby, VP of Development (HGI.)        

Hospice of the Golden Isles is so proud of the work our volunteers do here at hospice and throughout the community. Recently, three of our hospice volunteers Rick Caauwe, Harry Easterling, and James Vivenzio, who is also a board member, escorted local veterans on the Honor Flight to Washington, DC by serving as their guardians for the trip. “This is our fourth year for Honor Flight. We had 75 veterans and 75 guardians make the trip, and we are already getting people to sign up for next year. For me, this is such a meaningful experience. In a true sense for me, the best part is being part of something bigger than myself, just like the feeling I get when I serve as a volunteer for Hospice of the Golden Isles,” says Vivenzio.

Shown in the picture to the right are Rick Caauwe and James Vivenzio at the Vietnam Memorial. Harry Easterling is pictured below with Korean War Veteran Spencer Tait. Here at HGI, we feel it’s our privilege to serve our veterans and are proud to partner with We Honor Veterans.  To learn more about our Veterans Support Program, how to volunteer for HGI, and how to get involved with Honor Flight just click the links below.

Veterans Support Program: http://hospice.me/services/veterans-support/program.

Become a Volunteer: http://hospice.me/giving/volunteer/

Honor Flight:  http://www.coastalgeorgiahonorflight.org

       

We are beaming with pride right now! Not only is Hospice of the Golden Isles the ONLY hospice in Georgia to earn the prestigious Hospice Honors from HEALTHCAREfirst for six years in a row, we are also the ONLY hospice in the Southeast Georgia to receive Hospice Honors Elite in 2018. This is our second time receiving Hospice Honors Elite.  Hospice Honors is a distinguished program that recognizes hospices providing the highest level of quality of care as measured from the caregiver’s point of view.  Our goal every day is to provide the best care, compassion, and support that all of our patients and families deserve in our service area of Glynn, Camden, McIntosh, Brantley, and Charlton counties. So, this award is especially meaningful for our team to receive.   Special thanks to Andre Jesequel for donating his time and talents capturing our team’s celebration in this video.  https://youtu.be/uW3MdYUir-U

 

Hospice of the Golden Isles (HGI) is grateful to receive a donation of $2,000 from Mixed Nuts Boutique and Consignment  toward our non-profit mission of providing the highest quality hospice care to anyone in our community who needs us regardless of ability to pay.  “I love Hospice because they have been instrumental in helping my family many times. What more valuable service could any organization provide than helping families through the final days of a loved one’s life? I will be forever grateful,” says Charlene Stahl, the owner of Mixed Nuts. You can still help HGI through this consignor program with Mixed Nuts. Consignors simply donate their clothing to the Hospice of the Golden Isles account at the store on St. Simons and 85% of the sales will go directly to HGI. It’s that easy! There will also be monthly featured items like this beaded teardrop necklace below, valued at $50. 100 % of the sale will go to HGI. So gather up your clothing and accessories and take them to Mixed Nuts! This is a great way for someone else to benefit from the outfits you have just hanging around your home. Clean out your closets and help a great cause…Hospice of the Golden Isles! For more information contact Patty Crosby, VP of Development of Hospice of the Golden Isles at pattycrosby@hospice.me or 912-617-1463. Or you can contact Charlene Stahl at mixednutsssi@gmail.com or call 912-434-9600. Shown in picture from left to right: Jacki Albright, Manager of Mixed Nuts, Patty Crosby, VP of Development (HGI,) Jamie Burriss, Dir. of Finance (HGI,) Charlene Stahl, owner of Mixed Nuts  

At 93, Charlotte Raymond is showing no signs of slowing down. She says her love for Hospice of the Golden Isles (HGI) is one of the reasons she’s still going strong. “I love Hospice so much. It stimulates my brain. At 93, not much else stimulates my brain,” she says with a laugh. “When I sit and make prayer shawls, it makes me happy to know the joy I’m giving someone else when they get one of them,” says Charlotte.

Charlotte has been making prayer shawls for patients since her earliest days with hospice almost 38 years ago, which is also when also when HGI was founded. “I got the idea for knitting a prayer shawl from a book I got as part of my training with hospice” explains Charlotte.  Charlotte estimates that she makes around 200 prayer shawls for Hospice each year. “I sit in front of the TV and knit. I put love and prayer in all of them. I probably spend about 15 hours a week making them. It’s therapeutic for me,” she says.

Charlotte is not only a beloved part of HGI’s history, she also keeps track of our non-profit’s history. Each Tuesday, Charlotte comes to Hospice and places all published materials about Hospice of the Golden Isles into our scrapbooks. She is quite meticulous about making certain that everything is recorded. “This is my passion. This is our history,” says Charlotte.

Each week, after Charlotte has finished her work preserving our history, she can be heard walking down the hallway telling everyone, “I’ll see you all next week, good Lord willing!” To which, we reply “Then, we’ll definitely see you next week Ms. Charlotte.”

If you’d like to donate yarn for Ms. Charlotte’s prayer shawls contact Patty Crosby, VP of Development at pattycrosby@hospice.me or 912-265-4735. And, if you’d like to become one of our treasured volunteers like Ms. Charlotte contact Trish Burns our Volunteer Coordinator at PatriciaBurns@hospice.me.

It’s time to clean out your closets for Spring! A great way to feel good about what you are removing from your wardrobe is to donate your old favorites to our Hospice of the Golden Isles account at Mixed Nuts.  85 % of the sales will go directly to HGI.  So, now that you have more room in your closet, go shopping at Mixed Nuts and 100% of the sales of the featured items will go to HGI.  And, those donations are really adding up. On Nov. 12, 2018, Charlene Stahl the store’s owner (shown in middle), and Jacki Albright (shown on the left) presented a check to Patty Crosby, VP of Development of Hospice of the Golden Isles for $2,000. So far, they’ve contributed more than $6,000. Thank you ladies for all you are doing to help Hospice of the Golden Isles and our non-profit mission of caring for our neighbors in Glynn, Camden, McIntosh, Brantley, and Charlton counties regardless of ability to pay.

       The fur coat shown below sold in December and raised $375 for HGI. The featured sales item for February is this Judith Lieber clutch purse which retails for         $1195.00. But, you can buy it for $375.    

Oh, what a night! On Thursday, Aug. 3rd, friends of Charlotte Raymond turned out in droves for “Cocktails with Charlotte” – a special event held in her honor and benefiting the hospice she has volunteered at for over three decades. Charlotte was blown away by the reception and fellowship. Thank you to everyone who helped to make this such a memorable evening in honor of an unforgettable lady and cherished volunteer!

About Charlotte

After retiring from a career with the National Science Foundation in Washington, D.C. over 35 years ago, Charlotte moved to Saint Simons Island and began volunteering here at Hospice of the Golden Isles. She’s performed a variety of volunteer jobs over the years, but there are two for which she’s famous: creating scrapbooks about HGI and knitting prayer shawls to comfort hospice patients.

Several times a week, 93-year-old Charlotte carefully checks the local newspaper and area publications for items about HGI. When she finds something, she cuts it out and places it in the appropriate scrapbook. Although she can’t remember exactly how long she’s been doing this, she says there are now multiple volumes of scrapbooks. According to Charlotte, “Someone even made or bought a bookcase for them.”

As for her popular prayer shawls, Raymond prays small, simple prayers while she knits them. “Then they are blessed prior to the patient receiving them by Dr. Mike (the Rev. Michael Cordle, chaplain at HGI),” she said. “It’s so gratifying to make these; you know they’re going to someone who will enjoy them.” Families often keep the prayer shawls after their loved one dies.

Raymond is extremely humble, and doesn’t want any attention for her work, but she’s known to many families who have passed through the doors at HGI as the “prayer shawl lady.”

We’re always looking for great volunteers like Charlotte. If you would like to learn more about volunteering, contact our Volunteer Coordinator.