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Thursday,
April 19, 2007 — Time: 8:30:28 AM EST
By
MELINA HUDDY, Staff Writer
LITTLE HOCKING — Whether
a prescription needs filled, utilities are about to be disconnected, the
cupboards are bare or a disaster has occurred, residents of the Mid-Ohio
Valley who turn to area agencies for assistance have more than likely been
touched by the Sisters of St. Joseph Charitable Fund.
“Imagine, if you can, the number of people whose lives have been touched
by the fund. We can tell you how many grants, how many agencies, how many
dollars we have distributed in the past decade. We cannot begin to tell
you how many people have been effected,” said Allen Brokaw, a member of
the fund’s grant review committee. Created in 1996 from the sale of
St. Joseph
’s Hospital to Columbia HCA, the fund began awarding grants to private
and public nonprofit groups the following year. During April, the 10th
anniversary of charitable fund will be celebrated with four celebrations
among the 11 counties served by the charity.
The first, held at the St. Ambrose Catholic Church Hall on Tuesday, was
attended by representatives of private and public agencies in
Athens
, Meigs and
Washington
counties, the three
Ohio
counties served by the fund.
The next meeting for Pleasants, Ritchie and Tyler counties will be April
19 at the Board of Education meeting room in St. Marys. Wirt and
Wood
County
agencies will celebrate on April 24 in the Community room at West Virginia
University-Parkersburg, with the Calhoun, Jackson and Roane event planned
for April 26 at the Roane County Agency on Aging in Spencer.
“In the 10 years that we have been awarding grants, we have approved 495
requests by 278 organizations for a total of $8.5 million. Now, when you
realize that we never fully fund anything, those monies have leveraged
nearly $50 million in services to the
Mid-Ohio
Valley
. We share with our agencies a long-term commitment to promoting the
health of the
Mid-Ohio
Valley
, health of body, mind and spirit. Even as we celebrate the past 10 years,
we are looking forward to the next 10,” said Sister Jean Harrington, who
runs the charity.
The Sisters of St. Joseph has its roots as lace makers in southern
France
. They arrived in
Wheeling
in 1853 on the request of Bishop Richard Whelan for assistance in the
newly-established hospital there.
“They had no way of knowing that their charge would soon include the
entire state of
West Virginia
. By 1900, they had established the hospital in
Parkersburg
and for the next 96 years served the
Mid-Ohio
Valley
in that way,” Harrington said.
With the sale of the hospital, the fund was established to continue to
meet the health and wellness needs of the area in new ways. A Community
Grants Program, Health Ministry Initiative and More Active People project
help deliver services through collaborations with both public and private
nonprofit agencies throughout the area.
The celebration, which included refreshments, a gift drawing and
anniversary cake, concluded with a workshop conducted by board member
Robert D’Avria.
Each table was asked to discuss and then list what they felt were the
emerging needs in their service area as the fund looks toward the coming
years. The completed lists were then hung on the walls around the room and
those in attendance were asked to choose, by placing stickers provided at
each table, what they felt were the top three needs listed.
“We have asked each of you to fill out contact information cards and we
will get back to you with the results of this informal vote. As we look
toward the future, we are looking for a consensus of what the greatest
needs might be. Is it health insurance, education, environmental issues?
Is it services for the very young, the very old, or something in between?
You deal, through your various agencies, with these needs every day; we
want to listen and learn from you what the pressing health and wellness
needs are in your communities,” D’Avria said.
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