◘ Arthritis of the Thumb
By Melissa Stockwell
◘ Consequences of Hearing Loss ◘ Vision and Eye Problems in Aging Adults ◘ Adventure Camp: Connecting Generations One Smile at a Time
By Dr. L. Voigt Smith
◘ What Does Independence Mean to You?
By Marty Ferris
◘ RUN for Hospice
In this Issue...
Free
A u gu s t 2015
Senior Review
A Senior Magazine for Living a Healthier, Smarter and More Active Life in Wausau
RUN for Hospice
created when nearly 1,000 people come together in joy to remember someone who touched their lives. As you watch the balloons with messages on them float up, while music is playing to honor the host family, you can almost hear the spirits whisper.
By Marty Ferris
I
n 2004, my mom died and I found myself in the middle of grief, with little knowledge of how to move on. So I kept my eyes on my year-old daughter, kept breathing, and feeling like I needed to do something. I asked my wife and best friend if it was a dumb idea to do a fundraiser for hospice in honor of my mom. They didn’t say it was, so Arts Alive was born. It was only to be one year. The second year we added the run, Run For Hospice was born. Today, Run for Hospice boasts that is has raised over $200,000 to help families right here in central Wisconsin that are facing end-of-life illnesses. To continue my mom’s legacy, the Kathleen Gaynor Ferris Endowment fund was created to ensure quality of life issues had funding in hospice. Run for Hospice is also a major contributor of the two community care beds at Hospice House for patients with identified financial need. While Run for Hospice started out in very personal grief, it has become a symbol of life. A place of joyful remembrance. A time to honor our personal saints. Today, the Run for Hospice is a 5k run/walk and 10k run using the Mountain Bay and Eau
Clair River trails with nearly 700 participants, kid’s runs and a carnival, live music, raffles, silent auctions and balloon release. Our focus is honoring our saints. Each year we have a “host” family that lost a member in hospice. This is done to put a face to hospice, bring it out of the shadows and show there is life after loss. To tell the world our saint(s) lived, we know because we still love them. Run for Hospice is an event that celebrates honoring them. It’s hard to put into words what the run is. It is hard to describe the atmosphere
What participants have to say: ■ “Awesome race. I had so much fun. Well put together and with such great meaning. The food was amazing, the music was fun. The national anthem was spectacular and the balloon release was so moving. Great job” ■ “It was our family’s first hospice run after losing our dad a couple of months ago, and we were all impressed and touched by the whole experience. We’ll definitely be back next year. We are happy to give back” ■ “This was the first time we have participated in this run. We had numerous members of our family attend, ages 5 to 47. Almost all of us ran in one of the events. We all had a great time. Having the bounce house and activities for the young kids while the older “kids” were running was perfect. They could not wait to get their races going once ours was done. Being able to honor our Dad / Grandpa was special. Your organizers and volunteers did a great job !” Save May 7, 2016 and join us! Senior Review | 1