Prairie Home Hospice gets special gift

Prairie Home Hospice recently received a gift of $25,000 from Roger Schaffer, a former Marshall basketball coach and teacher. The gift was given in memory of his wife, Sandy, who received hospice services through Prairie Home Hospice in 1993.

“The service which Prairie Home Hospice provided for us will never be forgotten”, said Schaffer. “My experience led me to volunteer and also to serve on the Board of Directors of the organization. I continue to support the organization and will continue to do so.”

Schaffer’s generous gift was given as a donation to Prairie Home Hospice’s current “Bridge the Gap” campaign. “Roger has been incredibly generous in supporting Prairie Home Hospice over the years,” said Pat Mellenthin, Prairie Home Hospice CEO.

“He has been paying it forward ever since he and Sandy shared their hospice journey with Prairie Home Hospice 26 years ago, and that’s such a meaningful way to honor her. When a hospice journey becomes a life-long relationship, we know we’re doing something right.”

Not only is Schaffer paying it forward through his generous gift, he’s asking others who supported him and his wife through that difficult time in their lives to consider making a donation as well. “Roger hopes the friends and co-workers who supported Sandy’s hospice journey then, will remember how important Prairie Home Hospice was in their lives at the time, and consider a donation to Prairie Home Hospice as well.”

“He hopes that ultimately his gift will be matched by donations from the good friends and colleagues who supported him during and after Sandy’s illness.”

“Prairie Home Hospice’s ‘Bridge the Gap’ campaign was initiated a few months ago, after the change in ownership at the Marshall clinic abruptly changed the flow of hospice referrals to Prairie Home Hospice, creating some short-term financial disruption,” Mellenthin explained.

“Over the past few months, we’ve taken steps to adjust our budget by roughly $500,000, but it takes a few months to fully realize the financial benefit of those adjustments.” “We initiated the campaign with hopes of receiving financial support during the transition, so that our long-term financial stability is not jeopardized as a result of the changes in referral patterns we experienced earlier this year.” “Fortunately, we continue to receive referrals directly from individuals and families in the community seeking hospice care from Prairie Home Hospice,” said Mellenthin.

“We continue to remind people that every patient has the right to choose who will provide their hospice care and that choice must be honored by your physician.”

“Both of our hospice houses remain full, with waiting lists for both houses, and in recent weeks, we’ve seen an uptick in hospice referrals again, so things are looking up again. Difficult as the last few months may have been in some ways, the challenges we faced provided an opportunity for us to reflect on our mission, our values, and our priorities — and reaffirmed the importance of the work we do, the value of the kind of care we provide, and our role in the community.”

“The gifts we’ve received from Roger and others in the community to support our ‘Bridge the Gap’ campaign demonstrate that the community supports our efforts to ensure that Prairie Home Hospice remains strong and vibrant,” said Mellenthin.

“We’ve received overwhelming feedback from the community that indicates strong support for maintaining our status as an independent, free-standing nonprofit organization. That is exactly what we intend to do.”

Those who would like to donate towards the “Bridge the Gap” campaign can send donations to Prairie Home Hospice, 408 E. Main Street, Marshall, MN 56258. If you’d like to acknowledge your gift in memory of Sandy Schaffer, please note that on your donation.

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The Minneota Mascot
Address: 201 N. Jefferson
Minneota, MN 56264

Phone:(507) 872-6492