Memorial tree raised at mall

WASILLA - A 6-foot-tall artificial evergreen at Cottonwood Creek Mall is providing a place for Valley residents to remember people who touched their lives in a meaningful way and to help Hospice of Mat-Su provide care for terminally ill patients.

A tax-deductible donation of $15 will purchase a white posterboard star or angel with the name of a loved one inscribed on it, and the donations will help Hospice provide physical, emotional and spiritual support to terminally ill patients and their families, said Mary Littlefair, director of Hospice of Mat-Su. The Hospice is a service of Valley Hospital.

Hospices fund raiser begins Nov. 27.

Two stars cost $25; three $35; an Angel donation costs $50 and an Archangel donation is $100. Checks should be made payable to Hospice of Mat-Su and may be given at the mall or sent to the Hospice office at 3051 E. Palmer-Wasilla Hwy., Wasilla, AK 99645.

Hospice is also sponsoring a Gathering of Remembrance, scheduled for 2 p.m. Dec. 13 at the Palmer Depot. The names of the loved ones remembered on the tree will be read at the candlelight ceremony.

The Hospice holiday fund raiser brought in about $2,700 last year, Littlefair said.

It wasnt one of our best fund-raising years, she said. We usually like to see between $5,000 and $10,000. We really count on that.

The money is crucial because Hospices services are expensive, and the costs arent fully reimbursed by Medicare, Medicaid and private insurance.

Hospice of Mat-Su began operating as a volunteer hospice in 1985 and became a service of Valley Hospital in 1992. Hospice became Medicare-certified the following year.

The hospice employs eight full- and part-time staffers, 35 volunteers and cares for between 48 and 50 patients a year.

Hospice provides in-home, hospital and respite care; the use of medical equipment; medication to ease a patients suffering and bereavement services for a patients family for 13 months after the patient dies.

Staffers are on-call 24 hours a day, seven days a week, Littlefair said.

The Hospice also maintains a memorial fund to pay costs for terminally ill patients who cannot otherwise afford to pay for the services.

It does cost quite a bit to keep the program going, Littlefair said. Because the way the reimbursement is structured, it often does not cover the full cost of service, so we have to supplement our program costs with those fund raisers.

In addition to Medicare, Medicaid and insurance reimbursements, Hospice relies on grants, donations and fund raisers to pay the annual $500,000 operating costs.

We look for every available funding source so we can keep going, Littlefair said.

Photos: Hospice of Mat-Su last week put up a tree at Cottonwood Mall that will be the focus of its memorial star and angel fund-raising effort, beginning Nov. 27; from left, clockwise, volunteer Mariella Kruger, director Mary Littlefair, volunteer and bereavement coordinator Cathy Smith and volunteers Nancy Engel and Lynne Lewis.

Photos by JODI STEPHENS.