BATTLE MOUNTAIN - Fellowship Baptist Mission and Lander County Hospice have partnered up while the hospice is in the process of getting its nonprofit status and to help get the new hospice thrift store off the ground.
Hospice recently purchased the old Kid's Closet building at 326 W. Front Street. Hospice is making payments on the new building from community donations and from funds received through Newmont's Legacy Fund. The Legacy Fund also pays for medical supplies.
Church members and hospice volunteers have been working vigorously to get the store cleaned inside and out.
Electrical work and plumbing need to be done to the 3,250-square-foot building and church member Michele Cason is asking for the volunteer services of any licensed electrician or plumber to help out the organizations. Cason is currently serving as the liaison between the church and the hospice.
Once the inside and outside of the store are cleaned, volunteers are planning to paint the inside, said Cason.
Lander County Hospice, which was recently renamed from Horizon Hospice of Lander County, since it has branched off from the Elko Hospice and is in the process of getting its own nonprofit status, is looking for volunteers to help get the thrift store up and going, to run the thrift store and volunteer for hospice. Hospice will also be seeking five board members.
New director, Crystal Bard, took over from former director, Bev Huntington, who died June 24. Cason said Huntington had gotten the ball rolling for the purchase of the thrift store and now church members and hospice volunteers are making "Grandma Bev's" dream a reality.
"My main thing with this whole thing is it was Bev Huntington's dream and I am just trying to keep the dream alive," said hospice Treasurer Trish Hanson.
The church was formerly running its own thrift store. Since it recently shut down, the church was able to donate a cash register and other supplies to the new hospice thrift store. Cason said the new thrift store will help to fund hospice and serve as a service to the community.
Hospice is asking for donations of handmade items to become part of a craft store inside the thrift store that will also help to raise funds for hospice. The office for the hospice will also be located inside the thrift store.
The thrift store is not currently accepting donations but will be accepting items once it is closer to opening, said Cason. The thrift store will be accepting all household items including furniture. It will not be accepting appliances and electronics. There will be a bulletin board for people to post items for sale.
Church members and hospice workers are planning to hold a grand opening ceremony.
Hospice volunteers undergo rigorous training in dealing with those who are dying or have loved ones who are dying. The training is conducted through the hospices in Reno, Elko and Sacramento. There are currently six volunteers, said hospice Director Crystal Bard.
"We really need volunteers to help us," said Bard. "The volunteers are crucial for this to thrive so we are just hoping that volunteers can help make it better."
Hospice provides services to people who are terminally ill or who are coping with loved ones who are dying. Volunteers perform all sorts of services from running errands for the patient and families to providing respite for caregivers. It utilizes local volunteers to do such projects as building wheel chair ramps, said Bard.
All of the clients must come through doctors' referrals. Doctors often call the hospice on the behalf of the patients. Patients and their families can call as well and Bard will verify the referrals with the patient's doctor.
Hospice has been providing services to Lander County resident for more than 12 years. It currently has two patients. In 2010 it helped three patients, their families and caregivers. Sometimes the organization has no clients and other times it gets a whole bunch all at once, said Bard.
The organization lends out beds, portable commodes, walkers, wheel chairs, crutches, grieving books and even grieving bears, which are teddy bears for children that play recordings of grieving songs.
Church and hospice meetings are held Wednesdays at 10 a.m. at the new thrift store building. Once the hospice gets incorporated it will hold its own regular meetings, said Cason.
Anyone who would like more information or to volunteer for hospice is asked to contact Cason at (775) 635-3470, Hanson at (775) 635-8790 or Bard at (775) 304-6311. Licensed electricians or plumbers who would like to volunteer are asked to call one of them as well.
The church is currently accepting donations for hospice. Checks must be made out to the church and earmarked for Lander County Hospice and can be mailed P.O. Box 203, Battle Mountain, NV, 89820.
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