Lamar Area Hospice Receives Record Donation from BBB

BBB Donation to Lamar Area Hospice

(Bottom) Ashley Brookshire, Deb Pelley, Haven Tinnes, Megan Grett, Lisa McCullough (2nd row)  Kynlee Emick, Rose Ann Yates, Robbie Sue Young, Brittany Cochran, Tasha Shelton (3rd row) Sabre Reinhart, Angelique Stonerock, Alexis Qualls, Wendy Gonzales (top row) Andrea and Ehren Licano, Raven Licano

The annual Beer and Brats for Boobies, cancer awareness fun run held during the Lamar Chamber of Commerce Oktoberfest more than doubled its 2014 contribution to Lamar Area Hospice this year. The organizers donated $7,000 in 2014 and $15,000 was raised and donated to the local hospice and presented to Deb Pelley, Hospice Executive Director on October 23rd.

Megan Grett, who headed the activities said, ”This is due to some memorial contributions we received and from an extremely generous community.” She added that the growth in participants also helped, going from 190-plus in 2014 to 260-plus for the latest run.  She added that although it was a little chilly and windy, the weather did not hamper the activities or hinder the turnout.

Receiving Last Minute Race News

Pelly said the donations have been earmarked to help fund two hospice projects. “One is our palliative care.  It’s usually a precursor to requesting hospice aid.  We offer help to those who have some concerns with symptoms from cancer treatments such as radiation and chemotherapy.  We want our clients to stay as comfortable as possible.  It’s a charitable offering that our hospice does with no regard to any cost,” she explained.

Pelley detailed the development of a children’s support group titled, “Good Grief”. “We’re excited about this new development which focuses on youngsters of all ages.  We have four different events, each is six weeks long, and we’ve already had two so far this year.”  She explained that each is a stand-alone event and youngsters can join in at any point in the sessions.  “We’re lucky to have Ronnie Valejos in Lamar to lead the sessions.  She gained her specific training at Children’s Hospital in Denver.  She’s a great resource and is doing an excellent job for us.”

“Grief comes in many forms and can be from a divorce or loss of a family pet…it’s still grief and kids need an avenue to process it in a healthy way,” Pelley said. The counseling is also offered when there will be a pending death in the family to prepare a youngster to understand what is happening and a means of how to deal with their feelings.  “There is actually good grief when it helps a youngster through a difficult time,” she said.  “Sometimes kids can be left to their own devices.  Some of us noticed that after Janea Aguilera passed away and her fellow students had trouble coping with the loss.  We needed to do something instead of leaving them to their own devices, because sometimes the kids would congregate and talk among themselves and the adults were over on their side and we felt there was a need to reach them.”

Pelley explained that it’s not a grim discussion, as it involves taking nature hikes, reading and drawing and allows the kids to express their own thoughts about death, adding, “There’s no wrong or right way to grieve, it’s all unique to each person, but we want to provide some guidance for youngsters.”

Megan Grett became emotional when she spoke of her sister, Jillian Tinnes, who passed away from cancer recently and to whom many of the BBB participants pledged their donations in her memory. “Many of our runners were doing this for their department family members or friends.  We can laugh and cry at the memory of Jill as it was an emotional experience to see so many turn out and help make the run a success this year.”  She said that Jill had ideas about other events to make it better, adding that there may be more items auctioned off as a fundraiser and perhaps the event would be open to people on their bicycles next year.  “There’s still room for more sponsors and quite a few more local businesses could become involved.  There are a lot of ways people can assist us,” she said.

By Russ Baldwin