On Dec. 17, atop San Benito bank will be a giant Christmas tree
with thousands of white lights that stand for hope.
On Dec. 17, atop San Benito bank will be a giant Christmas tree with thousands of white lights that stand for hope.
It will be no ordinary tree, but the Tree of Life that represents the culmination of fundraising for the Hospice Foundation of the Central Coast.
The 17th annual Tree of Life ceremony will begin at 5:30 p.m. at San Benito Bank, 300 Tres Pinos Road.
“It’s a very unique tree-lighting. It will be on the rooftop and it’s about 30 to 45 feet tall with thousands of white lights,” said Jennifer Joseph, director of communications for the Hospice Foundation of the Central Coast. “It basically raises funds to support the end-of-life services in San Benito County,”
Each of the 3,000 lights on the tree is dedicated in someone’s name and represents a minimum donation of $20. More than $85,000 is raised each year from the event and the funds will be donated by the Hospice Foundation to the Visiting Nurse Association and Hospice of the Central Coast.
The San Benito High School and Sacred Heart School children’s choirs will perform at the event.
Hospice care is for people who are at the end of their lives and who wish to die in their own homes. The patient’s family learns how to participate in their care with the assistance of nurses, social workers, pastors, home health care workers and volunteers.
“It’s a compassionate, dignified program of health care and volunteer services offering in the patient’s home,” Joseph said. “It’s about the patient’s choice and how they want to spend the end of their life in a dignified, caring manner.”
For more information or to dedicate a light on the tree, call (831) 333-9023 or go to www.hffcc.org.
