Volunteers Needed for ACMS/ACBA Advance Healthcare Directive Event

The Allegheny County Medical Society (ACMS) and the Allegheny County Bar Association (ACBA) are holding a “Life Planning Fair” on March 31st. It is a first-of-its kind experience, where physicians, attorneys, medical students, and law students will come together to serve members of the local community in completing Advance Healthcare Directives and living wills. According to Dr. Todd Hertzberg, current Speaker of the Pennsylvania Medical Society and long-time ACMS member, “The Life Planning Fair is an incredible opportunity for physicians, attorneys and students to come together to learn, grow and engage one another, all while serving our community members, who otherwise would not be afforded these services.”

Many people do not understand advance directives. Barriers to the completion of an advance directive form include: time constraints, education, culture, mis-information, and discomfort discussing end-of-life concerns. Recently, the ACMS and the ACBA collaborated to modernize the decades-old Advance Directives form, which was no longer compliant with current PA statutes. Dr. Hertzberg and the workgroup set 3 goals during the development process: 1) ensure that the form could be completed without needing to hire a professional 2) permit straightforward and easy designations for organ and tissue donations and 3) allow flexibility in fullness of completion, matched to the level of comfort of the individual (for example, the user could simply choose to only designate a healthcare agent, but has the option of also completing a living will and/or designating organ/tissue donations).

HAVE YOU EVER ASKED:

If I can’t make health decisions for myself who will?

The Life Planning event is completely free to all participants and will be held on March 31st from 10 AM until 2 PM at the Kauffman Center. The event is particularly seeking to assist Hill District community members. Food will be available for all participants and volunteers. Volunteers will also have access to brief training, as needed.

Life Planning Fair

Will I need a guardian?

What if I put my children on my deed?

How can I be sure my money and property end up with the right people?

Who will pay my bills if I cannot?

What is a living will?

Do I need a power of attorney?

The ACMS is looking for physician volunteers for the Life Planning Fair.

Please contact mmayer@acms.org for more details. Law students and medical students are encouraged to volunteer, as well.

Featured Grant Recipient Beverly’s Birthdays | Beverly’ s Babies

At Beverly ’s Birthdays there is one simple goal: to celebrate children and families. Every child, regardless of personal, or financial circumstances deserves to be celebrated. Beverly ’s Birthdays provides birthday cheer for children experiencing homelessness and families in -need. Beverly's Babies division provides critical baby care items and life sustaining resources for expecting parents and new babies. From the “birth” to the 18th birthday, and special milestones in -between, Beverly ’s Birthdays/Beverly’s Babies spread cheer 365 days a year!

The origins of Beverly’s Birthdays is one worth reading: In 2011, Beverly ’s Birthdays founder, Megs Yunn, met a young girl named, Beverly, at a local afterschool program. Megs was helping her with her reading homework and Beverly had to use the word accustomed to in a sentence. Not knowing the meaning of the word, Ms. Megs asked, “Beverly, at birthday parties, people are accustomed to eating what? ” Beverly responded that she had never had a birthday party of her own or even a slice of her own birthday cake. Inspired by this interaction, Megs decided to start the nonprofit, Beverly ’s Birthdays, to provide meaningful birthday celebrations for children experiencing homelessness and families in need. Since 2012, the organization has supported thousands of birthdays, and expanded its mission to celebrate the “birth”day through a variety of baby and parent support initiative including, The Greater Pittsburgh Infant Formula Bank.

In addition to being a multi -year recipient of grant money from the ACMS Foundation, Beverly ’s Birthdays also received a Baby Formula donation through the ACMS Foundation ’s formula donation efforts in May, 2022. The Greater Pittsburgh Infant Formula Bank opened in June 2, 2022. It helped to support 479 unique babies and 942 total services. Over 130,000 ounces of formula were distributed, and $65,000 in formula product that was provided to the various formula banks has been available to the community.