Presbyterian holding fundraiser to support a new hospice home

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Presbyterian is getting ready to open a new hospice house this summer, but they need your help to fund it.

This is the 39th year where the Presbyterian Heathcare Foundation will hold its Daffodil Days fundraiser. The money has always gone to support hospice patients, raising just over $150,000 every year. What’s different this year, however, is the funds will all be used to support the new Presbyterian Robert Wertheim Hospice House.

"This home is specifically for individuals who are on hospice, who have no other options," explained Doyle Boykin, the VP of Operations for PHS Hospice Services. "The hospice benefit is usually carried out in an individual’s home so they can be surrounded by loved ones and friends and family during their final journey, but if you don’t have a home, or you don’t have friends and family that are able to take care of you, if your spouse is elderly or your family lives out of town, this may be your only option."

The Robert Wertheim Hospice House will sit on an acre-and-a-half of land, just off I-25 and Pan American in northeast Albuquerque. There will be 10 rooms all with their own bath, family area, and patio – plus public spaces. The facility is expected to help more than 300 patients a year costing about $500,000 annually.

"The idea behind the hospice is that you care from all aspects of the individual’s needs: their pain, their nutrition, their mobility, their spiritual care and the care of their family," Boykin said. "So this is a benefit that we, as humans at some point, most likely will all need and that is the one thing we have in common is that we’re all on this same path."

Preorders are open now through Feb. 25th. There are multiple options, including getting a bunch of daffodils or different-sized bouquets. They’re open for delivery and pickup or even for you to send a virtual one to someone out of town.

"You can also choose to help raise funds by paying it forward," said Teresa Hartnett with the PHS Daffodil Days Committee. "Like you would send a bouquet to like the frontline workers or the to the patients in the hospital which they just love having these sent to them."

The flowers will be available in mid-March. Organizers say all of these funds will go directly towards caring for hospice patients and you can place your order online here.