A More Personal Way to Give
... EHC's Cathy Parker shares the story of a tribute to her mother ...
"My mother never met a stranger or had an enemy. She was the most forgiving person I know," recounted Cathy Parker, unit director at Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University (WCI), when thinking about her mother Peggy Ragsdale.
Peggy passed away suddenly last March, leaving a legacy of - among other things - caring for others; singing in a gospel quartet; and serving as a loving mother, grandmother and wife. In her late twenties, Peggy was diagnosed with melanoma and given five years to live. "My mother said, ‘This won't work. In five years, Cathy is going to be 13 and she's going to need me,'" said Cathy. When she passed away, Peggy was a 43-year cancer survivor. More than 600 people came to her visitation, and there was standing-room only at Peggy's funeral services.
A few hours after Peggy passed away, someone mentioned flowers. Cathy's dad said he thought Peggy would have wanted those funds to go to help someone; why not Winship? He pointed out that not only was Peggy a cancer survivor, but also both Cathy's husband and sister had been treated at Winship. In addition, Cathy has worked here for 30 years.
For the Winship Patient Assistance Fund
In lieu of flowers, Cathy and her family asked that donations be provided to the Winship Patient Assistance Fund, which helps mitigate the financial hardships patients may face during treatment. The fund helps the most critically in need patients with prescription costs (a top priority), utility bills, transportation, etc. In fact, more than 200 patients received assistance from the fund in 2009, not to mention those who received the simple help of funded parking.
"The Winship Patient Assistance Fund is used to help our patients," said Jim Hankins, director of social services for WCI and administrator/founder of the fund. "We really are helping those people who have just hit rock bottom. When looking at patients in need of assistance, we target fixable challenges. For example, we have helped cover the mortgage for a patient whose disability funds weren't coming in for another month and was potentially going to be homeless, but would be able to get back on track in due time. We've helped patients purchase food with grocery gift cards. We even helped a terminally ill patient fly home to be with her family in the last couple weeks of her life.
"Every little bit helps and adds up. Even a $10 donation can ensure a patient is able to afford the gas to get here for his or her appointment. We use this fund to directly help our patients and their families."
A more personal connection
"This is what my mom would have wanted. She was such a loving and giving person," explained Cathy. "We also felt that we could help more people by donating to the Winship Patient Assistance Fund. We felt more connected to the donations by being able to select where the money went, and I liked the fact that we could narrow it down to one thing and really help others in $25 and $50 increments."
In the end, $2,200 went to the Winship Patient Assistance Fund in Peggy Ragsdale's name. "This was more personal for me," said Cathy. "Emory is my second home, and chances are some of the people I see in our lobby are the same ones receiving help from the fund."
And when asked why she feels it is important to give back, Cathy explained, "Why not? We don't have to give back in the form of dollars. We can give back time and of ourselves. Think of all the things we've been given in life. Now think of how different it would be without those things." And, thanks to the donations in Peggy Ragsdale's honor, there are Winship patients out there who have been given something positive - some help in alleviating their challenges and some comfort in knowing others care.
Employees: Want to learn about all the ways you, too, can choose to support our organization? Visit the MyEmory Healthcare site on ourehc.org.
Want to learn more about Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University? Visit www.cancer.emory.edu.
