THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, September 14, 1996 TAG: 9609140010
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: 40 lines
The number of dying patients and their families who have benefited from hospice attention inevitably lengthens. Humankind has yet to banish AIDS and the diseases identified as ``cancer,'' though gratifying progress toward ridding us of these scourges continues.
Hospices' purpose is to provide compassionate care for the dying in settings other than hospitals or nursing homes and support for their loved ones. Hospices proliferate as more and more people demand their services.
The first Hospice Regatta of Greater Hampton Roads last October raised funds for seven not-for-profit hospices within the region. Net revenue from the second Hospice Regatta - to be staged Saturday, Oct. 12, in Hampton Roads, the roadstead from which the region derives its name - will be donated to 10 hospice programs from Williamsburg to the Eastern Shore.
The programs are Portsmouth-based Edmarc Hospice for Children, Hospice Volunteers of the Portsmouth Area and Maryview Wellspring Hospice; Newport News-based Mary Immaculate Hospice; Goucester County-based Riverside Walter Reed Hospice; Onancock-based Hospice Support of the Eastern Shore; Norfolk- and Hampton-based Sentara Hospice Program; Norfolk-based Full Circle AIDS Hospice Support; and Hospice Care of Williamsburg.
Hampton Roads is fortunate to have so many hospices, as well as Lee's Friends: Helping People Live With Cancer. Although not a hospice, the 18-year-old not-for-profit Lee's Friends, with a bare-bones budget of $100,000 a year, has developed a network of hundreds of volunteers providing services to cancer patients and their families. Lee's Friends does not benefit from the regatta.
More than two-score sailboats are scheduled to compete in races. Sponsors who contribute between $250 and $5,000 will be entitled to watch the races from an observation vessel that will depart from the Hampton Visitor Center.
The regatta is being hosted once again by the Hampton Yacht Club. Former TV3 weather forecaster Duane Harding was last year's honorary chair; TV3 newscaster Jane Gardner is this year's. For information about the Hospice Regatta of Greater Hampton Roads, telephone 599-9063. by CNB