Monthly Archives: August 2012

Sharp HospiceCare Benefit Regatta Raises $240,000 for Hospice Patients

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Two-day event exceeds last year’s figures in fundraising, attendance and boat participation 

 SAN DIEGO  — Sharp HospiceCare, Coronado Yacht Club and Cortez Racing Association hosted the Tenth Annual Sharp HospiceCare Benefit Regatta on Aug. 24 and 25, 2012. The event netted over $240,000 for Sharp HospiceCare’s Homes for Hospice campaign, an initiative to build hospice homes in San Diego.

Friday evening’s sell-out crowd at Hotel Del Coronado included 460 dinner guests and featured remarks from Honorary Chairs Scott and Susan McMillin. Scott, who serves as chairman of the board of The Corky McMillin Companies, announced Sharp HospiceCare’s purchase of its first hospice home in the South Bay region – the third hospice home of its kind in San Diego County.

On Saturday, the largest fleet of vessels in the event’s history took to San Diego Bay for the all-day regatta.  Nearly 40 sailboats competed to the delight of 360 attendees who viewed the race from aboard 25 hosted, luxury yachts. Overall regatta winner, Anarchy, skippered by Scot Tempesta, qualifies to compete in the 2013 National Hospice Regatta Championship in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Sharp HospiceCare is an organization that provides comprehensive care and compassionate support to patients and their families struggling with a life-limiting illness. Sharp’s hospice homes are unique living environments – custom-designed and built in established, residential neighborhoods. They are the only places of their kind in San Diego County which combine around-the-clock hospice care with an intimate, comfortable, home-like setting. Sharp currently operates two homes located in the neighborhoods of La Mesa and Del Cerro.

“We at Sharp HospiceCare are truly grateful for the support and generosity we’ve received from the San Diego community, and are thrilled with the success of this event,” said Suzi K. Johnson, vice president of Sharp HospiceCare. “It’s our goal to continue to build awareness about hospice care and help people understand that dying is a process and a natural progression of living.”

Community volunteers Luanne Brito of Vi at La Jolla Village and Bill Quealy of KPMG LLP served as the 2012 Regatta Event Co-Chairs. Event sponsors include Elmcroft Senior Living, Shea Family, Sodexo Health Care Services and Virginia Napierskie.

For more information about Sharp HospiceCare, visit www.sharp.com/hospice. Watch a video about Sharp’s hospice homes and how it benefits patients here: http://www.sharp.com/video/transcripts/homes-for-hospice.cfm 

About Sharp HealthCare

A 2007 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award recipient, Sharp HealthCare is San Diego’s most comprehensive health care delivery system. It is recognized for clinical excellence for services in cardiac, cancer and multiorgan transplantation, as well as orthopedics, rehabilitation, behavioral health,  women’s health, and hospice care. Sharp HealthCare has been widely acclaimed for its commitment to transform the health care experience for patients, physicians and staff through an organization-wide performance improvement initiative called The Sharp Experience. The Sharp system includes four acute-care hospitals, three specialty hospitals, two affiliated medical groups and a health plan. To learn more about Sharp, visit www.sharp.com or stay connected with Sharp on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube:

http://www.facebook.com/sharphealthcare
http://www.twitter.com/SharpHealthCare
http://www.youtube.com/sharpwebcenter

Read more — Learn more:
National Hospice Regattas Alliance website
National Hospice Regatta Alliance blog
National Hospice Regatta Alliance facebook page

Yachts of Love Charity Regatta to Set Sail Sept. 9, Santa Barbara, CA

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Community event will benefit Visiting Nurse & Hospice Care’s Serenity House

The decks have been scrubbed, the flags hoisted high, and the sailor whites are pressed and ready — the eighth annual Yachts of Love Charity Regatta is just around the corner!

On Sept. 9, the Santa Barbara community is invited to attend this exciting sailing event, hosted by the Santa Barbara Yacht Club to benefit Visiting Nurse & Hospice Care’s Serenity House, a hospice facility.

Tom Parker, a member of the SBYC Board of Directors and president of the Hutton Parker Foundation, has been named chairman of the event. This year’s Regatta promises to be a thrilling day of racing, entertainment and goodwill.

“This event acknowledges our Volunteer of the Year, Julia Kauffman, who has been volunteering with VNHC for three years at Serenity House,” said Lynda Tanner, president and CEO of Visiting Nurse & Hospice Care. “Julia’s volunteer duties have included direct patient care, kitchen and housekeeping assistance, administrative tasks and mentoring new volunteers. She performs all these tasks with a smile, positive attitude and a compassionate presence. We are so grateful to her for her time and dedication to our organization.”

This year the Regatta will celebrate heroes, including local safety personnel and military servicemen, who will serve as Celebrity Skippers aboard the boats. About 25 representatives from the Santa Barbara City Fire Department, the Santa Barbara County Fire Department, the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department and the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office will wear the captain’s hats on the racing boats — all gunning for the Yachts of Love trophy.

Adding to the day’s excitement will be the visiting USS Halsey and its crew, many of whom will join the racing and observation boats as guests of the Santa Barbara Navy League. The USS Halsey, a guided missile destroyer named in honor of Fleet Admiral William Frederick “Bull” Halsey Jr., who served in the U.S. Navy duringWorld War II, will provide a majestic backdrop to the Santa Barbara Harbor from Sept. 7-10.

Throughout the day, guests will have the opportunity to buy raffle tickets for $10 each or purchase five for $40 and have a chance at winning any of 50 raffle items that have been generously donated by local businesses. Guests can also bid on exclusive silent auction items including two Fire Station dinners, and an original painting by Ralph Waterhouse of Waterhouse Gallery.

The event is open to the public from noon to 6:30 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 9 at the Santa Barbara Yacht Club. The day will include sailboat races, spectator boat rides and a Yacht Club beach party. Tickets are $75 per person and $12 for children. Sponsorship opportunities are available at $10,000, $5,000, $3,000 and $2,000 levels. Sponsorship includes admission to the regatta, barbecue and naming opportunities. Guests are invited to come right at noon to sign up for a ride in one of the 11 spectator boats.

The Santa Barbara Yacht Club is one of this area’s most recognized institutions, and the Yachts of Love Charity Regatta is one way members give back to the community. This event truly makes a difference by showing appreciation and support to the nurses, home health aides, counselor and volunteers who tend to the needs of others every day. Now in its eighth year, the Yachts of Love Charity Regatta has raised more than $700,000 to date benefiting subsidized care at VNHC’s Serenity House hospice facility.

For tickets and event information, click here or call 805.690.6290. For more information about sponsorship opportunities, contact Lora Barker at 805.690.6215 or lbarker@vnhcsb.org.

— Jennifer Guess is a publicist representing Visiting Nurse & Hospice Care.

Read more — Learn more
Visiting Nurse and Hospice Care website
‘Yachts of Love’ 2012 Charity Regatta website
National Hospice Regattas Alliance website
National Hospice Regatta Allianceblog
National Hospice Regatta Alliance facebook page

National Hospice Regatta Alliance Update August 2012

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News for & about Hospice Regattas  August 2012

New Videos Showcase Championship

The Alliance is pleased to introduce two new videos promoting both the Hospice Regattas North American Championship and your regattas.

“We created these videos to encourage more sailors to compete locally.  In just minutes, they can discover how exciting it would be to represent their local regatta at the Championship,” said Alliance president Jean Kluttz.

The first video features interviews with a number of sailors, who explain how hospice regattas are different from other sailing competitions.  The second video concentrates more on racing footage, showcasing Championship 2012 on Tampa Bay. Right now you can watch them on YouTube, although DVDs and/or thumb drives will be provided to all member regattas at no cost.

“If a picture is worth a thousand words, here is a way to see how much enthusiasm sailors bring to hospice regattas,” Kluttz added.

Using footage shot last April in St. Petersburg, the videos were created by Chris Love Productions, whose clients also include US Sailing and the US Coast Guard Academy.

You can post these videos on your websites and social media channels, or show them at regatta kickoff or post-race parties, at sailor appreciation promotions, or even at other hospice events.

In addition to the videos, the Alliance is reaching out to local regatta winners about the championship. At some 2012 regattas, Alliance board members are presenting congratulatory letters to encourage winners to compete next April in St. Petersburg.

Upper Chesapeake Hospice Regatta Nets New High

The June 2 regatta in Havre de Grace, Maryland, netted over $101,000 for the Bob Hooper Hospice House, an eight-room facility for terminal patients whose needs can’t be met at home.How’d they do it?  By increasing revenue, reducing costs, and improving the guest experience, according to Donna Tower, Upper Chesapeake Health Foundation Gift Officer.

Revenue gains: The main factor was recruiting more sponsors, not getting bigger donations, Tower said.  For example, a number of physicians signed up after learning about the regatta during a March event called Doctors Day. Banners recognizing them and other sponsors were displayed during the event.

The silent auction and games like “Wheel of Plants” were augmented by a live auction with an amateur auctioneer ably eliciting higher bids. Displaying Willard Bond posters shrink-wrapped on boards seemed to appeal to auction bidders. In addition, at a Photo Booth they had a teacup monkey available to pose with guests…guaranteed smiles, for a fee.

Expense controls: A liquor distributor and a microbrewery donated most beverages.  A local restaurateur organized what he calls “Dinner Impossible,” finding suppliers willing to part with surplus food inexpensively.  He provided “boatloads of shrimp” and some food-handling staff.

One new expense proved worthwhile: the “Executive Bathroom,”  a trailer restroom far superior to the average porta-john, featured flowers, mints, and an attendant who kept everything, er, fresh. – Jean Kluttz, MD-HdG Board Buddy

Use Facebook to Stay in Touch Did you know 

people spend more time on Facebook than on any other website?That’s a main reason PR pro Mary Fletcher Jones urged Alliance members to use social media to raise the online visibility of your events and organizations in her June 20 presentation to our annual Members Meeting.

You can stay in touch with the Alliance on Facebook, where we maintain both a public page – open to anyone – and a private Members Group page which is reserved for regatta and hospice leaders. Like you.

[We also have a Members Group page on LinkedIn.]

Go to our public Facebook Page by clicking the Quick Link below. “Like” us…and tell FB to show our posts in your News Feed. Post your regatta’s news there to share it with NHRA’s fans and friends.

To join the Members Group on Facebook and/or LinkedIn, just send an e-mail request and specify Facebook or LinkedIn or both.

Quick Links
NHRA Website
NHRA on Facebook
Our Blog

New for 2012 – Hospice Cup Memorial Sponsorhip

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In conjunction with our partner, Norht Point Yacht Sales, Hospice Cup is pleased to announce a new sponsorship level, Memorial Sponsorship.

For $250 the sponsor receives:
–Yellow sailing burgee with loved one’s name embroidered on it, to be displayed at the Hospice Cup Shore Party
–2 tickets to the Hospice Cup Shore Party

Order your burgee today by contacting Karma O’Neill at 410-919-8393 or hospicecup@aol.com

 Read more — Learn more
Hospice Cup website
National Hospice Regattas Alliance website
National Hospice Regatta Allianceblog
National Hospice Regatta Alliance facebook page

541 Hospice Regatta — August 18, 2012 St. Joseph, MI

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Saturday the St.Joe Benton Harbor Elks 541 hosted the 541 Hospice Regatta. There was  a sailboat race on Lake Michigan and a big party afterwards at the Lodge. Those attending enjoyed food, a silent auction and entertainment, all proceeds benefit the local Hospice organizations.

Race results from the first annual 541 Hospice Regatta:

Section 1 – first place – - – - Rush
Section 1 – second place – - -Wellenreiter V
Section 1 – third place – - – - Sea Raider

Section 2 – first place – - – - Closed Sail
Section 2 – second place – - Winsome
Section 2 – third place – - – -Chateau St Michelle

Our own Rush (the lone SBEYC race boat) qualifies to participate in the Hospice National Championship to be held next Spring – April 11-14, 2013 in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Three races in light and variable winds. Good test of sailing skills and patience. Light air racing takes concentration to be done well.

Read more — Learn more
541 Hospice Regatta NHRA page
National Hospice Regattas Alliance website
National Hospice Regatta Alliance blog
National Hospice Regatta Alliance facebook page NHRA page

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The weather was near-perfect on Saturday for the Rochester Hospice Regatta. Mark Blaakman’s True Colors claimed 3rd place in the C&C 29 division, won by Jack and Jason Evans and their crew. Thanks to all competitors and hospice supporters for their efforts on behalf of Lifetime Care Hospice. [Photo by Doug Burtner.]

Congratulations to Kris Werner and crew of Pee Wee, winners of the 14th Rochester Hospice Regatta, which delivered great racing and great parties – as promised – for a great cause.

Congrats to Mark Blaakman and crew, not just for good results on the water but also for raising so much $$$ for hospice. Mark’s cumulative fundraising now exceeds $30,000!

Read More — Learn More
Lifetime Care website
Rochester Hospice Regatta page
National Hospice Regattas Alliance website
National Hospice Regatta Alliance blog
National Hospice Regatta Alliance facebook page

James Patrick Muldoon, Esq. named Honorary Chair of the 31st Hospice Cup regatta

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James Patrick Muldoon, Esq.

Mr. Muldoon has been an actively involved in international sailing and boating for more than 25 years. As captain and owner of the 73-foot yacht, DONNYBROOK, he has participated with competitive amateur teams in hundreds of races and has accrued more than 75,000 miles of ocean racing. He has been involved with Hospice Cup for 27 years, serving as live race commentator for several years.

“Jim’s contributions to raising funds and awareness of Hospice care has been invaluable in helping our event progress throughout the years,” says Brien Jones-Lantzy, Hospice Cup President. “His well-known talent for sailing and passion for philanthropic causes makes him an ideal person to bring the community together to help the lives of individuals seeking hospice care.”

Read more — Learn more
Hospice Cup website
National Hospice Regattas Alliance website
National Hospice Regatta Allianceblog
National Hospice Regatta Alliance facebook page

Genesee Yacht Club Holds Hospice Regatta

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The 14th Annual Hospice Regatta was held Saturday at the Genesee Yacht Club.

WATCH the VIDEO

Hundreds of people gathered to celebrate and raise money for the Lifetime Care Hospice.
Attendants also remembered family members and loved ones that have passed away.

The charity boating event is the largest in the Rochester area with more than fifty boats competing in races on the waters of Ontario Beach.

“It’s a fundraiser to support care for the elderly and those with end of life illnesses,” says regatta board member Mark Blaakman.

“This is actually an idea that 14 years ago a couple of gentleman just dreamt that it would be a great idea here in Rochester. We have a very strong sailing community here and it was a great idea and here we are 14 years later,” says Kristina Mossgraber, the event organizer from Lifetime Care Hospice.

Since the Hospice Regatta began, more than $600,000 has been raised for the Lifetime Care Hospice.

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Read More — Learn More
Lifetime Care website
Rochester Hospice Regatta page
National Hospice Regattas Alliance website
National Hospice Regatta Alliance blog
National Hospice Regatta Alliance facebook page