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Foundation News
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“We
are excited to have Alicia on board to provide leadership for our
Foundation,” said Richard Carter, CEO of Hunt Regional Healthcare,
a growing regional healthcare organization with hospitals in Greenville
and Commerce and programs elsewhere in the area. 
2013 Friends of the Foundation award recipients,
Mrs. Norma Mitchell and |
One of the highlights of the evening was the presentation of the annual Harold Curtis Friend of the Foundation Award to philanthropist Norma Mitchell and Dr. and Mrs. James Sandin.
“Both recipients are so deserving,” said Foundation board chair Roz Lane, who was joined by the late Mr. Curtis’ daughter Leah Curtis in making the presentations.
“We established an award in Harold’s memory because of his 50-year relationship as legal counsel for the hospital,” said Jack Gray, Director of the Foundation. “He was a leader in establishing the Foundation to fund health care improvements in our service area,” gray said, “and we wanted to annually honor people with his sense of commitment to supporting quality healthcare.”
Hunt Regional Healthcare CEO Richard Carter said that the results were “gratifying.”
“The Gala has become a tremendous tradition for the Foundation and the community,” Carter said. “The funds the Foundation has brought in from so many generous businesses and individuals has made a huge difference in moving Hunt County healthcare from good to great.”
Contributions to the Gala have increased every year since it started
in 2005.
Help on Wheels
December
5, 2012 - The Hunt Regional Healthcare Foundation announced today
that it is spearheading a project that will make earlier detection
of breast cancer a reality for women throughout the service area of
Hunt Regional Medical Center.
Early detection is the key to surviving breast cancer, and mammography
is the key to detecting breast cancer at an early stage. But in
Hunt County, about 50 percent of women don’t receive the mammograms
they need.
The Foundation has launched the Help on Wheels fundraising campaign
to bring mobile mammography to the region.
“The funding we generate will go 100 percent toward the purchase
of a state-of-the-art mobile mammography unit,” said W. D.
Hilton Jr., a former Foundation board chair who is heading up the
campaign. “To make mobile mammography happen locally, we will
need broad support from people throughout the area.”
According to Hilton, the cost of acquiring the unit will be about
$300,000. Roz Lane, chair of the Foundation board, said that members
of the Board have already made personal commitments of more than
$100,000 to the campaign.
The mobile mammography van will provide screening mammograms to
women who may not have access to centralized screening or who may
be unaware of the life-saving benefits of early screening mammograms.
Other contributing factors include age, infirmity and economic circumstances.
The mobile unit will regularly visit locations throughout the service
area to make access more convenient. It will also deliver the service
directly to the sites of area manufacturers and other businesses.
The mobile mammography proposal was developed by Judy Quan, R.N.,
coordinator of education at HRMC who is also a certified cancer
patient navigator.
“This opportunity is so exciting and will be such a huge benefit
to local women,” Quan said. “Surviving breast cancer
can be a difficult struggle, but mobile mammography will help us
diagnose many cancers at a much earlier stage of development.”
When breast cancer is diagnosed at Stage 1, the five-year survival
rate is 88 percent. If it is at Stage 4 before detection, the five-year
survival rate is only 15 percent.
“This really is a life and death matter,” said Hilton.
“We are confident that everyone in Hunt County will want to
partner with us to make mobile mammography a reality.”
You can make your tax deductible contribution online. Please specify "Help On Wheels" in the comment box.
Bras for the Cause a huge success!
The funds raised will go to Janice's Closet, the wonderful program created to provide supplies such as wigs, treatment gowns, bras and prostheses, and compression garments for Cancer Center patients who are not financially able to provide these supplies for themselves.
The program is governed by representatives from the Hunt Regional Healthcare and the Bras for the Cause program.
All proceeds remain in Hunt County to benefit breast cancer patients!
Oak
Creek Tournament benefits Cancer Center
August 14, 2012 - Hunt Regional Healthcare Foundation received a gift of nearly $10,000 to fight cancer as the beneficiary of Oak Creek Country Club’s 27th annual charity golf tournament.
Presenting the check to Foundation director Jack Gray, on the right, is Betty Williams, whose late husband James was honored by the tournament held in his memory.
Cindy Lowry, left, was secretary-treasurer for the event, and Jerry Kirchman was the tournament director.
Foundation Memorial Fund honors Bob Aikin’s
service
July 6, 2012 - The late A.M. (Bob) Aikin III is being honored by the Hunt Regional Healthcare Foundation with a memorial fund recognizing his service as a member of the Foundation’s board of trustees since 2007.
“Bob was a valuable board member and good friend,” said Jack Gray, director of the Foundation. “He will be missed by his board colleagues,” Gray said, “and I will personally miss his sage advice and many suggestions that have contributed to the Foundation’s success.”
Aikin served on the Foundation’s Philanthropy Committee and was a co-chair in Commerce of fundraising efforts for the annual gala, Laughter is the Best Medicine.
He was the son of the late A.M. Aikin, Jr. of Paris, the “Dean of the Texas Senate” who served that body longer than any other person. Aikin shared his father’s interest in politics and public service. He was elected to the Texas House of Representatives in 1986 and was elected to the Texas State Board of Education in 1988. He served several years as director of legislative affairs for Texas A&M University at Commerce, and at the time of his death had worked several years as a consultant in the area of public facilities financing.
Aikin died unexpectedly on June 13 at his Commerce home. He is survived by Debbie Aikin, his wife of 38 years, and his son and his son and daughter-in-law Chris and Christine Aikin of Jersey City, N.J.
“We are so pleased that the Foundation is honoring Bobby,” Debbie Aikin said. “He enjoyed his association with the hospital Foundation.”
Anyone interested in honoring Aikin may contact the Foundation office at 903.408.1068 or send a check made payable to HRH Foundation to the Foundation at P.O. Drawer 1059, Greenville, Texas 75403-1059. Checks should note that the gift is earmarked for the Bob Aikin Memorial Fund. Gifts also may be made securely online.
The family has requested that contributions to the memorial fund be directed to provide enhancements for Hunt Regional Medical Center’s new Cardiovascular Services Center currently under construction.
Donors honored
Major
donors (left to right) Danny and Carolyn Keene, Shirley and Charles
Ranly, and Linda and Don Bolin were honored recently for their generous
gifts to the Hunt Regional Healthcare Foundation. Their gifts supported
HRH’s priority to provide care of the highest quality to the
people of Northeast Texas.
The Foundation’s new donor recognition wall (in the background) was unveiled at the same event. The Keenes’ gift was a memorial to Paul Harper, a longtime employee and close family friend who passed away last year. The Ranlys, who own Webb Hill Country Club in Wolfe City, paid tribute to past and present members of the club with their gifts. The Bolin gift was a memorial to Mrs. Bolin’s late father, Colonel W.O. Jack Sharpe, and Mr. Bolin’s mentor, the late Edward D. “Ted” Jones, founder of Edward Jones.
‘Bras for the Cause’
big success
More breast cancer survivors are benefiting from the over-the-top success of ‘Bras for the Cause’
Mary
Dirickson was the first. There have been many since. And untold
numbers will benefit in the future. They’re the motivation
behind Bras for the Cause: an earnest wish that no Hunt County woman
experiencing breast cancer will ever feel incomplete or afraid to
go into public for lack of a breast prosthesis or wig.
The third annual Bras for the Cause fundraiser in October —
national Breast Cancer Awareness Month — generated more than
$40,000 to provide breast prostheses, mastectomy garments, wigs,
treatment gowns, and other necessary supplies for women who may
have been struggling to provide these items for themselves. In just
three years, Bras for the Cause hasgenerated more than $65,000 in
donations from Hunt County-area residents to help women undergoing
breast cancer treatment.
The event is the brainchild of Janeen Cunningham, owner of Greenville’s Calico Cat and active community volunteer. She and a few friends put together the first event in 2009 in just a few short weeks. Despite little lead time, the first fundraiser netted more than $3,000.
“I believe that it is both the responsibility and the privilege of every resident to make her hometown a better place to live, work, and raise a family and to provide a better life for people in need,” Janeen says. “And I know that these kinds of efforts are best undertaken in the company of like-minded people who can bring passion and purpose to a project.”
Janeen says that a host of area women have been instrumental in the program’s success. Co-chairs for the 2011 event were Vanessa Lassiter Pope and Lana Barker Dollgener.
Janeen prides herself on “stealing” ideas from her travels and then introducing them to folks in Hunt County. “When I heard about an exhibit of decorated bras at a charitable fundraiser,” she says, “I knew it would be perfect for Greenville and Hunt County.”
In addition to serving as a fundraiser, Bras for the Cause has played
an important role in increasing awareness of the plight of breast
cancer patients.
One of the keys to attracting interest and community participation
has been an annual competition among thematic, decorated bras designed
by area women, groups and businesses.
They range from the sublime to the silly, but each one makes a statement
about the importance of breast health and care.
More than 60 bras were entered in the initial competition displayed
at Greenville’s Uptown Mall, and more than 160 competed in
the 2011 event just weeks ago. The bras are a key to the fundraising
as votes cast by people attending the event come with a price tag.
Because of the unexpected success of the original event, the group
of volunteers felt they had a special event that folks really embraced.
The group believed that $10,000 was within reach in 2010. Needless
to say, they were ecstatic when local residents and businesses contributed
more than $25,000!
“I can only say that we are so lucky to live in a community of men and women with such big hearts, and with such a wonderful sense of humor,” Janeen says.
Following the 2010 success, Bras for the Cause leaders approached
the Hunt Regional Healthcare Foundation. They invited the Foundation
to become a partner to invest and manage the charitable funds and
administer the program that provides supplies to breast cancer patients.
The number of volunteers has grown exponentially, and specialization
of responsibilities has emerged. Today there are subcommittees to
handle publicity, bra wrangling, bra display, event logistics, and
sponsorships, to name just a few.
One of the needs brought on as the program evolved was for a place
to do fittings for mastectomy products. That resulted in Janice’s
Closet, a fitting room constructed on the second floor of Hunt Regional
Medical Center near the Medical Pavilion entrance.
The space was named for Janice Weldon, publicity chairman, who was
tragically killed in an automobile accident shortly after the 2010
event.
The facility is open by appointment, and two Hunt Regional Medical
Center employees have been professionally trained as fitters.
“We are really proud of the amazing success that ingenuity
and hard work has produced for Bras for the Cause,” said Richard
Carter, CEO of Hunt Regional Healthcare. “And we’re
equally proud to have become their partner in meeting the post-treatment
needs of women touched by breast cancer.”
HMHD Foundation presents gifts to Hunt Regional Medical Center
December 7, 2009 - The Hunt Regional Healthcare Foundation for Good Health dedicated two gifts to Hunt Regional Medical Center on Sunday afternoon (December 6, 2009) including the Monsignor John V. McCallum Quiet Place, and a Yamaha Disklavier baby grand piano for the Atrium.
The
Quiet Place, honoring the late monsignor who pastored at St. Mary
Catholic Church in Greenville for a number of years, was a result
of gifts from Mr. and Mrs. James Coe and The Cullen Family Foundation
represented by Barbara and Brian Cullen. Delivering the blessing
of the Quiet Place was Father Paul Weinberger, current pastor of
St. Mary, who is pictured at right with the Coes and the Cullens.
The piano was a gift from Mr. and Mrs. W.D. Hilton Jr. in honor of his mother, Mary Ann Hilton. It was dedicated during a recital in the Atrium by Mitzi Parker, representing HRH employees, Maggie Morrison, representing the Foundation, and
Dr. Ted Hansen. Hansen, renowned pianist at Texas A&M University-Commerce, presented a premiere performance of his commissioned original composition, “Time Passes By.”
Mr. and Mrs. James Coe (left), Barbara and Brian
Cullen (center), and
Mr. and Mrs.W.D. Hilton, Jr. (right), benefactors for two gifts
dedicated at Hunt Regional Medical Center in Greenville
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Hunt Regional
Healthcare Foundation
P.O. Drawer 1059
Greenville, Texas 75403-1059
903.408.1068
Email: SaveLives@HuntRegionalFoundation.org
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