Weiser Memorial Hospital Foundation year-end giving campaign

 The Weiser Memorial Hospital Foundation has changed their fundraiser this year to adapt to the unusual social distancing time of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

 The annual Festival of Trees was cancelled this year due to Idaho’s statewide rollback to Stage Two, the foundation board took the challenge head on and decided to organize a Year-End Giving Campaign, said Foundation Executive Director Casey-Clark Ney.

 The concept of a year-end campaign is often used by non-profits as a way to fundraise during the holiday season and at the end of the year. Ney said she has previously considered the idea as a partnership with the Festival of Trees, however decided with the hospital board to keep the festival as the focus. 

 Because of the need to cancel this year, Ney embraced the opportunity to organize a year-end campaign.

 “This way we have a framework with how we communicate with our doners for future giving events,” said Ney. “We will definitely use it for Idaho Gives.”

 The funds raised from the campaign will benefit the hospital’s transitional care program, also known as Swing Bed. The transitional care unit is used to aid in patients’ transitions from the hospital to home. 

 The Swing Bed program has seen a high usage and has continued to be a positive option for those ready to be discharged from the hospital but are still in need of temporary additional assistance that cannot be provided at home. The program offers the opportunity for patients to remain close to their home and relatives while in their post-rehab stage of healing.

 “I highly recommend the Swing Bed program,” said Linda Youngblood, one of the foundation’s directors with personal experience with a relative using the program. “From start to finish, we knew what our goals were and we knew that going to Boise, Ontario or another care facility was not what we wanted.”

 The event was kicked off on Giving Tuesday on Dec. 1 and will continue until year’s end on Dec. 31. Along with the campaign, hospital employees are continuing their tradition of auctioning wreaths. The employees themselves decorate each wreath and the funds gained from the auction benefit the employee fund.

 Donations can be received in a variety of ways, including via phone call and on the donation website. Already, community members have shown their immense generosity toward others. 

 Ridley’s Family Market has donated $5,000 and Steve’s Hometown Motors has donated $1,000, said Ney. All donations aid in the progress of the hospital’s endeavor to provide the best care to its patients.

 “The hospital is very blessed to have a supportive community that wraps around it,” said Ney. “They’ve always been very generous in giving to the hospital. We are a community hospital.”

 Donations can be made on the campaign’s website, by mail, phone call or a personal donation. The employee wreath auction can also be found on the campaign’s website as well as the campaign’s ongoing progress to reach their monetary goal.