The mighty root system that feeds every tree’s life-source
parallels a campaign the Hospice Foundation has cultivated to help
terminally ill patients and their families in San Benito
County.
The Trees of Life campaign, which has been conducted in San
Benito County for the past nine years, honors and remembers
community members by celebrating their life or accomplishments.
The mighty root system that feeds every tree’s life-source parallels a campaign the Hospice Foundation has cultivated to help terminally ill patients and their families in San Benito County.
The Trees of Life campaign, which has been conducted in San Benito County for the past nine years, honors and remembers community members by celebrating their life or accomplishments.
People dedicate a light by donating a minimum of $20, said Jennifer Joseph Pettley, marketing director for the Hospice Foundation out of Monterey.
The light is then secured to a holiday tree that will shine for all to see on the top of San Benito Bank.
The money raised by the campaign then goes back to fostering better health care programs for people at the end of life, as well as support for those left behind.
A portion of the money raised was given in the form of a $20,675 grant to Hazel Hawkins Hospital to start a program that incorporates a treatment program with hospice care called palliative care, Pettley said.
“Palliative care is an emerging type of specialty that is very exciting in helping people cope with life-threatening diseases,” Pettley said. “It’s the best of both worlds – the ability for patients to continue aggressive, curative treatments for a life-threatening cancer, for example, and still receive all the wonderful elements of hospice care.”
Traditionally, patients have to opt-in to hospice care, which sometimes happens at a very late stage of their illness because they want to continue treatment. Many times this means they aren’t able to benefit from all the services hospice provides, Pettley said.
“It provides more options for patients in San Benito County with a life-threatening disease,” she said. “Trees of Life is the vehicle of how Hospice Foundation was able to give Hazel Hawkins the money.”
The official lighting ceremony of the tree will be Thursday, Dec. 11, at 5:30 p.m. at San Benito Bank, located at 300 Tres Pinos Road.
Between 150 to 225 people usually attend the ceremony, which will feature choir performances from San Benito High School and Sacred Heart School. A memory book of all the people having a light dedicated after them will be available at the bank Thursday and throughout the holiday season.
“We’re very excited about it,” said Susan Parra, assistant vice president and client relationship officer at San Benito Bank. “Everyone walks away feeling so inspired by the people around them.”
The tree, with thousands of community member’s lives shining for all to see, will be fastened to the top of the bank for the entirety of the holiday season.
Sharon Walters, a community member who will be speaking at the lighting ceremony, has received extensive support from the Hospice Foundation after having five members of her family die in a two-year period.
Hospice helped her family when her grandmother and mother were dying from cancer, and then supported her through a hospice bereavement group after her husband and two other close relatives died, she said.
“The hospice bereavement group helped me to grow, learn and express how I feel,” Walters said. “I wish more people knew about it.”
She’s never spoken in front of a large public audience before and she’s a little nervous, but she’s doing it in the hope that she can help someone else who is grieving the loss of a loved one, she said.
“It’s a place I wouldn’t wish anyone to be, but they have to know that there is a place where people can help,” she said. “I’m going to dedicate the light to my husband.”
Lights are dedicated to people who have died and those who are still living, Pettley said.
“It could be honoring a teacher or someone wonderful in the community,” she said. “Light dedications are sometimes used as stocking stuffers – they’re very meaningful to people.”
Dedications may still be made after the lights are turned on Thursday – the ceremony isn’t a cut-off date for dedications, she said.
An easy way is to purchase one is by going to the foundation’s Web site at www.hffcc.org and clicking through to the Trees of Life order page, Pettley said.
“The Trees of Life serves many purposes,” Parra said. “It’s an opportunity to come together and give back to the hospice organization that provides service to so many people.”
