News

June 27, 2011

News From Hospice of the Conejo

This is an excerpt from the Hospice Newsletter if you are interested in volunteer positions or receiving the newsletter in its entirety please contact Hospice directly at 805-495-2145 orhospice@avnetsol.com

Hospice of the Conejo Volunteer Newsletter

June 2011

In This Issue

How to Stay Young

Non-profit Organization of the Year

Ice Cream Social

Butterfly Remembrance Ceremony

HOW TO STAY YOUNG

Throw out non-essential numbers. This includes age, weight, and height. Let the doctor worry about them.That is why you pay him/her.

Keep only cheerful friends. The grouches pull you down.

Keep learning. Learn more about the computer, gardening, crafts, whatever. Never let the brain idle.

Enjoy the simple things.

Laugh often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath – it’s good medicine.

Tears happen. Endure, grieve, and move on. BeAlive while you are alive.

Surround yourself with what you love, whether it’s family, pets, keepsakes, music, plants, hobbies, whatever. Your home is your refuge.

Cherish your health. If it is good, preserve it. If it is unstable, improve it. If it is beyond what you can improve, get help.

Don’t take guilt trips. Take a trip to the mall, to the next town, to a foreign country, but Not to where the guilt is.

Tell the people you love that you love them at every opportunity.

And Always Remember: Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.

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Did you know?

Did you know that the Good Grief Memory Quilt contains 20 squares and measures 56 by 60 inches?

June has been a very busy month for Hospice of the Conejo. Staff, board members, and volunteers attended the Spirit of Community Awards where Hospice was named Non-Profit Organization of the Year. Some of you also attended the Ice Cream Social where the Good Grief Youth Group’s new Memory Quilt was unveiled. Hospice staffed a booth at the City of Thousand Oaks Community Safety and Wellness Day. In conjunction with the Thousand Oaks Kiwanis Club and the Westlake Rotary Club, Hospice sold tri-tip sandwiches at the Westlake Street Fair.

All Volunteers Invited to July 6 Meeting

The next monthly volunteer/staff meeting will be on Wednesday, July 6, from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM. This is an opportunity for you to meet and share with other volunteers and staff.

Please call the office at 805-495-2145 to let us know whether you plan to attend or not.

Hospice Named Non-Profit Organization of the Year

On June 7 Hospice was named Non-Profit Organization of the Year by The Greater Conejo Valley Community Foundation at the ninth annual Spirit of Community Awards. The award is based on the organization’s positive local impact on the Conejo Valley.

Maria Prescott, Executive Director, and Laura Gerritsen, member of the Advisory Board, accepted the award on behalf of the organization at the awards ceremony. The Good Grief Youth Group’s Memory Quilt was displayed at the event.

Ice Cream Social

Hospice staff, volunteers, friends, and members of the community attended the Ice Cream Social on Wednesday, June 1. The event was the official unveiling of the Good Grief Youth Group’s new Memory Quilt.

The memory quilt is a mosaic of stories and images from approximately a dozen children in the group who have experienced the recent death of a parent. The quilt contains memories, drawn by hand, of each child who participated in the group at the time the project was initiated. Each quilt square commemorates a special experience or memory the child had with his or her deceased parent. Interspersed among the children’s drawings are memory-related photographic images of each child with his or her parent. Support for the Memory Quilt was provided by the LEGO Children’s Fund.

Hospice teen mentors planned and staffed the event with assistance from the Thousand Oaks Key Club. Everyone enjoyed the entertainment, including Guitarist Andrew Stone, Sing-along with Kerry Gardner, and Back to Bollywood Dance-along with Sumedh Shah. The ice cream was a big hit with young and old.

Happy JULY Birthday to our Volunteers!

Connie Coleman and Ingrid Hayes

(Please let us know if we missed your birthday)

Wish List

Urgent Need for Wheelchairs, Adult Diapers

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Each month Community Conscience spotlights one of the 13 human services agencies who operate rent-free in our 22,000 square-foot building. Those agencies serve 50,000 people annually, and we want to share their stories. Subscribe to our newsletter to have their stories delivered to your inbox.