PRESS RELEASE: October 23, 2007 For Immediate Release
MEDIA CONTACT:
Beverly Crowl, Public Relations Specialist
Tel: 302 547 1816
Em: bcrowl@delawarehospice.org
Volunteers: the Real Beauty of Festival of Trees
The magnificent displays of decorated trees and wreaths at Delaware Hospice’s Festival of Trees tend to get all the attention at the annual fundraiser. But don’t miss another awesome and beautiful feature of the Festival—the volunteers who have worked tirelessly to pull it together. They have been making crafts, selling trees and wreaths, finding decorators, and searching for auction items. They’ll be there, welcoming you, selling tickets and crafts and ensuring that everyone enjoys another amazing Festival of Trees!
Three generations of the Murray family will be in the Gift Shop, where they’ve been each year for ten years.
Actually the Murray family’s involvement with Delaware Hospice goes back nearly 20 years. Sandy (Murray) Wilgus was introduced to Delaware Hospice with the illness of her mother-in-law. She found their services of great interest and decided to sign on as a volunteer to see if she could help another family.
Sandy went through volunteer training in October 1988, and by 1989 she had already agreed to co-chair the Festival. As she said, “When you’re in charge of something and you need help, who do you call? Your family. One by one during the last 17 years, everyone’s been involved. At first it was easy because the Festival wasn’t that large. We may have sold 25 trees in the early years of the Festival; but every year, something got added: wreaths, more trees, a larger building. Now we set up 80 trees or so, and the whole set-up and take-down are huge endeavors and that’s where the family members come into play.”
Sandy’s family volunteers include her parents, Alden and Gert Murray, her husband and children, her siblings and their husbands and children—about 17 altogether. She said, “We have been involved in practically all aspects of the Festival including lunch with Santa where the kids served the pizza, decorating the Remembrance Tree, setting up, helping with the auction, decorating wreaths and trees, playing Santa, and presently running the Gift Shop. Everyone will work in the Gift Shop over the weekend. We have shifts coming in and out; then we are all there for the take-down. It’s a fun time for all of us.”
Just as other volunteers, Sandy and her family work all year to organize the Festival of Trees. Sandy said, “It just keeps rolling. In December, you get going again for next year. There are businesses who sell ornaments and Christmas items on sale at the end of the season. People make things or you find something nice on sale and buy it to re-sell it in the Gift Shop.
Asked why Sandy and her family were so committed, Sandy said, “I think for the same reason everyone’s involved. We know it’s for a good cause. We all believe in the purpose and cause of hospice and we know that at the end of that weekend, we’ve been out there and helped raise money and we look forward to next year.
She added, “It’s also the camaraderie of the team. Not only our family, but we work with the same folks each year and we all look forward to seeing each other again.
“Delaware Hospice is a unique group. They have cared for so many of us, and when they go into someone’s home, that genuine compassion is what comes through.”
The Festival of Trees volunteers have organized another wonderful holiday extravaganza. Friday evening, November 30, features the Gala and Live Auction from 6 to 9 p.m. Children will enjoy Lunch with Santa on Saturday, December 1, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. The unique Holiday Collectibles Auction will be held on Saturday afternoon, at 2 p.m. All weekend long, you will find special bargains in Mrs. Claus’ attic, wonderful hand-made items from Santa’s Elves, and, of course, just the gift you’ve been looking for in the Gift Shop. Don’t forget to say hello to the volunteers!
There’s still time to donate items for the auctions, gift certificates from your business or prizes for the raffles. Contact the Georgetown office at 856-7717 or write to pdolby@delawarehospice.org.
Proceeds from the Festival of Trees enable Delaware Hospice to continue offering quality care through its services and programs to the community, including the unique New Hope Program for youth who are suffering from a loss and Transitions Program for seriously ill individuals who are not appropriate for hospice care.
About Delaware Hospice
Since 1982, Delaware Hospice has provided exceptional care and support to 30,000 patients and their families. Its mission is to help each patient, each day, live the fullest, most comfortable life possible. Delaware Hospice is the largest and only licensed, nonprofit, community-based hospice serving New Castle, Kent and Sussex counties in Delaware and southern Chester and Delaware counties in Pennsylvania. For more information about Delaware Hospice’s programs and services, upcoming events, or employment opportunities, call 800-838-9800 or visit our website,
Delaware
Hospice is accredited by JCAHO.
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