SUN Home joins 'We Honor Veterans'
NORTHUMBERLAND - To help provide care and support that reflects the important contributions made by veterans, SUN Home Health and Hospice has become a national partner of We Honor Veterans, a pioneering campaign developed by the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) in collaboration with the Department of Veterans Affairs.
As a partner, SUN Home Health and Hospice will implement ongoing veteran-centered education for staff and volunteers to help improve the care provided to veterans. The nation is seeing many of the veterans who served in World War II and Korea pass away, and the number of deaths of Vietnam veterans is beginning to rise. Of the number of people who died in the United States each year, 25 percent are veterans.
"All hospices are serving veterans, but often aren't aware of that person's service in the armed forces," said J. Donald Schumacher, NHPCO president and CEO. "Through We Honor Veterans, we are taking a giant step forward in helping hospice and palliative care providers understand and serve veterans at the end of life and work more effectively with VA medical facilities in their communities."
To learn more about We Honor Veterans or to make a donation, go to www.wehonorveterans.org.
SUN Home Health and Hospice provides home health and hospice services to 13 counties throughout Central Pennsylvania. For more information, call 1-888-478-6227 or go to www.sunhomehealth.com.
VNA butterfly release scheduled
COAL TOWNSHIP - VNA Health System Crossings Hospice will hold its 13th annual butterfly release and service of remembrance at 1 p.m. Sunday, July 15, at Springfield Memorial Park, Tioga Street, as a way to honor the memory of friends and family members who have succumbed to terminal illness.
This event will combine a symbolic release of a bouquet of butterflies and reverent service of prayer and remembrance. The service is free and open to anyone who wishes to memorialize the loss of a loved one.
According to Indian legend, if anyone desires a wish to come true they must first capture a butterfly and whisper that wish to it. Since a butterfly can make no sound, the butterfly cannot reveal the wish to anyone but the Great Spirit who hears and sees all. In gratitude for giving the beautiful butterfly its freedom, the Great Spirit always grants a wish.
The butterfly is also a gentle symbol of rebirth and hope.
For a sponsorship fee, participants will receive a butterfly bush to take with them and a butterfly to release at the ceremony. All sponsorship monies help support the local VNA Health System Crossings Hospice program and the services it provides.
A VNA Staff member will release a butterfly in the name of a loved one for those unable to attend the ceremony.
For more information, call 648-8989.