LAKE COUNTY — On Thursday Hospice Services of Lake County honored a group of Lake County residents whom the organization designated as Champions of Hospice. The inaugural Champions of Hospice Banquet was held at the Riviera Hills Restaurant and its purpose was to provide a thank you to a wide variety of dedicated supporters of Hospice Services of Lake County.
Champions were selected from the categories of referral sources, financial supporters, community and business leaders and staff and volunteers. The community members chosen as champions for the inaugural event were:
Referral sources: Dr. Kirk Andrus, Dr. Dean Jennings, Dr. Gary Maes, Dr. Michael Novak, Dr. Jim Pretorius and Dr. Mark Turrill.
Financial supporters: Carl Braito, Loraine James, Steve Brookes, Bill and Dana Kearney, Bill and Patty Brunetti, Dick Michaels, Dennis and Ruth Darling, Barry and Jan Parkinson, Steve Estrada, Diane Pege, Dr. Bob Gardner and Kay Lanier, Jennifer Strong, Charlotte Griswold and Tibor Major and Petra Bergstrom.
Community and business leaders: Gary Dickson, Bill Kearney, Carlos Fagundes, Dave Laster, Melissa Fulton and Lori Peters.
Staff and volunteers: Pat Brown, Woody and Sandra Hughes, Almia de los Santos, Liberty Perry, John and Katie Eells, Greg Scott, Theresa Espinosa and Sharon Weeks.
The speakers included Hospice Services of Lake County Board President Wally Kelly and Executive Director Kevin Garvey. Kelly said death is perhaps the greatest playing field equalizer known to man. He said that regardless of a person”s economic status or beliefs, everyone faces an end of life situation.
He told two stories about men of opposite ends of the human spectrum that he, through hospice, helped face impending death. In each case the men were having difficulty with their journey. In the end, both men faced death with dignity and one even with humor, because of support from hospice.
Garvey spoke about the image of hospice services and how some people have the mistaken view that the advent of hospice services signals that the family or individual has given up. Garvey said that is not the case at all. He said, “Hospice is about providing the right care at the right time.”
Garvey said at Hospice Services of Lake County the average daily client number is 36. He said there was a recent period when the client care number climbed to 43. The organization employees 30 full-time staff members and 10 part-time.
Garvey said there are many volunteers; some of whom have been helping for years. According to Garvey, the annual budget for Hospice Services of Lake County is more than $2 million. The proceeds from the Lakeport and Clearlake thrift stores provide a large percentage of the organization”s funds.
Garvey said Hospice Services of Lake County includes the words Lake County. He said that his goal is to spread the organization”s services more thoroughly into the entire county.
