Local Hospice Chapter Names

Keynote Fundraiser Speaker

By Nancy K. Crevier

Marilyn Alexander has missed only one Hospice Breakfast fundraiser in 22 years, and that was last year, to attend a grandchild’s wedding. One of the original organizers of the annual fundraiser by the Newtown Chapter of Regional Hospice of Western Connecticut, this year Ms Alexander will certainly not be absent from the June 15 event, she said.

Ms Alexander has been selected by the committee as the keynote speaker.

“I would like to give a history of our fundraising for hospice,” Ms Alexander said, Monday, June 6, “and also honor the late B.J. Geerer, a former Newtown Middle School teacher, who co-chaired the original breakfast with me, as well as for many subsequent years.”

The goal of the speaker at the annual breakfast fundraiser, she said, is to help those present become more familiar with how hospice works, and the costs involved in providing care to the terminally ill. Regional Hospice of Western Connecticut serves more than 500 patients and their families each year, including patients in Newtown, Sandy Hook, and surrounding towns.

“My involvement with Regional Hospice of Western Connecticut, in the beginning, was about volunteering and fundraising. It was about giving back the blessings in my life that have been so abundant,” Ms Alexander said. When her husband, Paul Alexander, who died four years ago, fell ill and was under the care of hospice, she said, she experienced firsthand the tender and skillful expertise of the organization.

“I’m looking forward to seeing familiar faces and many new faces at this year’s Hospice Breakfast fundraiser,” said Ms Alexander. “The 300-plus people who usually attend are always so happy to see each other, but we manage to get everyone settled down by the 8 am start. The people who come, come for a good time for a good cause — which was originally our motto for this breakfast. It’s wonderful to see. My speech will focus on the positive aspects of the organization,” she said. “The awareness factor about hospice is already out there.”

The Newtown Chapter of Regional Hospice of Western Connecticut will sponsor the 22nd annual Hospice Volunteer Thank You and Fundraiser Breakfast, Wednesday, June 15, from 8 am to 9 am, at the Waterview, just over the Newtown line in Monroe.

Sponsors are invited to buy a table that seats seven guests and the host, for $100. Corporate sponsorships are also available, at $500 for a table for 12. Guests are encouraged to donate “tips” to the waitstaff (Regional Hospice volunteers) that become donations to the agency, as does the money raised through table sponsorship and a raffle.

Seats for “walk-ins” are always available, as well. Individuals may attend for $12 per person. It is also possible to sponsor a table even if the benefactor is not able to attend the breakfast. Sponsors will be recognized, whether they are present or not.

Attendees are asked to arrive by 7:45 am for the 8 to 9 am event, in order that participants can enjoy the breakfast and still get to work on time.

Tickets for the raffle of items donated by local merchants can be purchased at the entrance to the breakfast room, prior to the start of the breakfast .

To sponsor a table, call Marg Studley at 203-426-3651.