Hospice Bouquet Sale
Hospice Bouquet Sale
Order Flowers and Spread Hope to Terminally Ill Patients and Their Families
HomeCare & Hospice Foundation is holding their 29th Annual Spring Bouquet Sale to benefit members of our community facing life-limiting illness. All proceeds from the bouquet sales will benefit terminally ill patients and their families throughout Allegany, Cattaraugus, Genesee, and Wyoming counties. They are offering 18-stem bouquets for $20. Orders should be placed by phone (716-372-2106) no later than Friday, February 10th at 4:30pm, or online at https://springbouquet.givesmart.com until February 17th.
The bouquets will be delivered to pickup points the week of March 5th and available for pickup in the Olean area, Monday, March 5th or Tuesday, March 6th. For Wyoming and Genesee County orders, office pickups will be Thursday, March 9th or Friday, March 10th. Other pick up locations: Batavia Office: 29 Liberty St., Suite 6; Little Valley: 211 Erie St.; Wellsville: 194 N. Main St.; Arcade: 563 W. Main St.
The foundation is always looking for volunteers. If you are interested in being an event volunteer for bouquet sorting and deliveries, please contact Cassie Kelsey at the Olean office at 716-372-2106 or Pat Meek in Batavia at 585-343-7596.
Please take a few moments to read about the hospice care offered in this area. The decision to opt for hospice care can be difficult, yet it is good to have a bit of information at hand to be able to make the best decision for your loved one. How does one know when it is time for hospice care? It is true that services can commence when a patient’s physician determines that the patient has six months or less to live. There are many instances when the patient outlives that time period and can be re-evaluated for extended services, if needed.
Hospice in our area provides the following helpful services to those enrolled: A registered nurse is available 24 hours a day to take your call. Compassionate nurses are highly trained to assist in a patient’s plan of care and track disease progression, answer questions and offer emotional support, assess patients and consult with physicians, and a very important service, provide pain and symptom control. The Hospice medical director offers additional expertise in symptom management. Social workers meet with patients and their families to assist with the emotional stress of illness and caregiving. They answer questions, assist in completion of advance directives, refer to community organizations and help in understanding and completing forms. They meet with patients and families upon request to provide spiritual and emotional support. Hospice aides provide personal care and individual attention to patients. Volunteers visit with patients and provide respite and relief for family members.
Hospice is a very old concept. Its history can be traced back to the 11th century and the Roman Catholic Church. “Hospice” was offered both to the sick and dying as well as travelers and pilgrims who had no place to stay. It wasn’t until the mid-1900s when hospice as we know it today began to take shape, beginning with a British doctor, Dame Cecily Saunders who started working exclusively with dying patients. A speech she gave at Yale university in 1963 inspired medical workers to have discussions about providing end-of-life hospice care in America, modeled after the first centers opening in London.
Enter Dr. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross and her 1969 book On Death and Dying, placing emphasis on home care rather than end-of-life care in a medical facility, based on first-ever interviews with 500 dying people. 1974 ushered in the first hospice care center in America, and today it is a critical part of end-of-life planning for all Americans.
Hospice care is available through Medicare and other health insurance programs. Once people, especially caregivers, are comfortable with the concept of hospice, they discover that they can be more present for their dying loved one because of the helping hands they receive from hospice. Likewise, patients who are dying have the relief of knowing they can be kept comfortable either in a nursing home or in their own home if that is their wish, in familiar surroundings with family, friends and pets and they will be always kept comfortable and pain-free. Please go to hospicefoundation.org for an easily understood review of what hospice has to offer.