EMHF fundraiser an annual tradition
By Jane Charmelo
If you want to honor someone special this holiday season who has touched your life in some way, or give the gift of a memory to someone else, consider making a donation to the Elmhurst Memorial Hospital Foundation’s (EMH) Love Lights program.
Each year since 2011, the foundation has offered the community a chance to remember a deceased friend or loved one, and/or honor someone in their life who has made an impact or has been special in some way.
This year, the Love Lights fundraiser is about to get under way with the lighting of the Central Garden at Elmhurst Hospital, 155 E. Brush Hill Road, Elmhurst, on Sunday, Dec. 1.
According to the foundation’s development manager Blair Williams, the tradition began in 2011, after someone on the foundation team saw a similar program elsewhere, and brought the idea back to the foundation members.
“We changed the program to the ‘Elmhurst way,’” she continued, meaning, “to put our own [Elmhurst] touch on the program.”
“We developed it and put a special touch on it for the Elmhurst Community,” Williams added.
Each year, individuals can make a donation to honor a special person or persons, in one of two ways. This year, for a $25 donation, donors can honor that person with a “Love Light.”
“Each light symbolically commemorates a special person who has touched a life, or a loved one who has passed away,” an Endeavor Health release explains.
For a $35 donation, donors will also receive a commemorative Love Lights ornament, according to the foundation.
The foundation will also feature the names of the honorees from donations received through Dec. 16 in the Dec. 26 issue of the Elmhurst Independent.
“People continue to do this annually,” the manager related. “Many people do it year after year.”
“It’s just a special experience,” she added, saying that people “think it’s a very special thing,” in addition to supporting the efforts of the foundation.
That ornament can become a keepsake or a gift, Williams posed, adding, “It’s a unique way to honor someone … It could become an annual tradition.”
“It’s very open; what it means to the person,” she said.
In addition to the donations, individual ornaments are available for $10.
For more information, to purchase a Love Light or to make a donation, visit www.eehealth.org/love-lights or call 331-221-0388.
About the Elmhurst Memorial Hospital Foundation
The nonprofit foundation supports Elmhurst Hospital and its programs.
The following are some of the accomplishments highlighted on the foundation’s website:
• $376,000 raised at the annual Autumn Affair Gala to support our nursing program, helping to fund new tools and equipment to keep our nurses safe, as well as provide critical education and training so they can continue to deliver care at the highest level.
• $300,000 toward the repurposing of office space to create a new, 8-bed Surgical Observation Unit for the seamless recovery of our growing number of surgery patients.
• $113,000 in community donations to provide over 18,000 meals to employees and caregivers at Elmhurst Hospital and our ambulatory sites during the pandemic.
• $51,180 for IV Ultrasound vein imaging, allowing for quick and safe IV access for the patient.
• $37,825 to underwrite the Diabetes Jumpstart Your Health program.
• $24,000 in scholarships for our teen volunteers who are planning to pursue a degree in the health care field.
• $14,700 for our Surgical Oncology and Breast Care screening programs to improve the quality of life in recovery through rehabilitation.
• $4,000 for continued enhancement of our Rooftop Healing Garden.
Other foundation fundraisers include the Autumn Affair, Chef Fest, Reindeer Route Housewalk, the Hope. Lives Here Cancer Campaign.
For more information on the Elmhurst Memorial Foundation, visit www.eehealth.org/ways-to-give/emh-foundation or call 331-221-4483.
