Hospice event helps local families
Published 10:00 pm Saturday, May 26, 2012
This year is the 12th year for the walk/run
For the 12th consecutive year the hospice program at Mayo Clinic Health System will host a walk/run around Fountain Lake in conjunction with Eddie Cochran Weekend.
This year’s event is June 9, with registration starting at 7 a.m. at the Freeborn County Fairgrounds. The walk/run will be from 7:30 to 9:30 a.m., according to Marcia Smith, director of hospice and home care for the local hospital.
“Usually we see family members and friends of hospice patients,” Smith said. “But we’d like to involve the public more.”
The event is open to anyone in the community who wants to join in, and anyone can wait until the day of the event to register. It is one of three fundraisers for the hospice program. Smith said some people get pledges and others just donate what they can. Anyone who donates, even onlookers, will get a free T-shirt.
“Donations go to the hospice program and supports our patients’ overall needs,” Smith said.
Funds also go to programs that aren’t covered by insurance, volunteer services, bereavement care and more. Hospice care focuses on quality of life when a cure is no longer possible. It addresses the total physical, emotional and spiritual needs of individuals, while assisting their loved ones in providing care and support in comfortable, familiar surroundings.
Registration and pledge forms can be picked up at the hospice office, located on the Health Reach campus at 1705 S.E. Broadway Ave.; the Cancer Center, Information Desk, Mayo Clinic store, and pharmacy inside the medical center’s main campus, located at 404 W. Fountain St.; KATE radio; and Mayo Clinic Health System locations in Wells, Lake Mills, Alden, New Richland and Kiester. For more information call hospice at 377-6393.