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The Pastoral Care Services program and its volunteer Chaplains help Island Hospital fulfill its promise to “place your emotional and medical needs first and foremost.” When the program’s future was in jeopardy due to budgetary constraints, you rallied! Your contributions to the Island Hospital Foundation have kept the program going since 2018. Anacortes community members, Ruthanna Metzgar and Laurie Fakkema, have an opportunity for you to continue to show your support for the spiritual and emotional well-being of Island Hospital patients, their families, and even staff.

Dear Friends and Family:

On September 15, Ruthanna Metzgar and I will be leaving for Tanzania to spend 10 days trekking on Mt. Kilimanjaro and plan to summit the 19,341 ft. mountain to honor her late husband, Roy.  Our goal is to raise awareness and support for programs that make a difference in our community.

 I am fundraising for Island Hospital’s Chaplaincy Program (Pastoral Care Services).  I feel strongly that overall health includes emotional and spiritual health, as well as physical health. As the wife of one of the chaplains, Doug, I have seen many families blessed and appreciative of the support that was provided. Ruthanna’s husband, Roy who died of pulmonary fibrosis, was one of them.

 Island Hospital has nine volunteer chaplains who provide 24-hour skilled and compassionate pastoral-care and support to patients, their families and hospital staff in times of need or medical crisis.  These chaplains respect individual beliefs and the diverse faith traditions in our community.

 Chaplains provide a unique type of support through difficult decisions that sometimes must be made with and for loved ones. They connect patients with resources available through Island Hospital and our community network.  Often there are patients who have no family or support group in town so the chaplains offer a listening ear and make themselves available around the clock to come in upon request of a patient. I cannot count the times Doug has been called at 2 am or 3 am just to help calm a patient down so they can sleep or to be a sounding board for an upset family member. Several times over the years, Doug has called me to pick up basic supplies for a patient who has absolutely nothing in the way of personal supplies like clothing, a toothbrush or hairbrush.

 My hope is that through this trekking adventure I can help raise awareness and financial support for our nine volunteer chaplains and the Pastor Care Services program which offers on-call spiritual and emotional care within the Island Hospital community. Please support me by donating to the Pastoral Care Services at Island Hospital by clicking the donate button below.

 Thank you for donating to these very important services!

 Laurie Fakkema