News/Press

News/Press

September 26th, 2010
First Henry Street Harvest Festival Fundraiser to Benefit Hospice
The Saratogian (www.saratogian.com)
Published: Monday, September 27, 2010

by PATRICK H. DONGES, The Saratogian

SARATOGA SPRINGS - Children and adults reveled in the temperate autumn weather Sunday as they strolled through the first Henry Street Harvest Festival to benefit hospice care.

The festival featured seasonal fare, including caramel apples and other fall favorites, from Tiznow, Virgil’s House, Smokey Joe’s BBQ and Scallions.

Kids decorated cupcakes and pumpkins and had their faces painted while adults browsed the wares of local artisans and pulled up chairs for Irish music by Forthlin Road and a fall beer tasting at The Parting Glass.

Local children’s music group The Zucchini Brothers also played a special set near the pumpkin painting area.

Proceeds from the festival will go toward the opening of the Gateway House of Peace, a charitable hospice that serves Saratoga County. Founded in 2006, Gateway House of Peace Inc. is a local nonprofit (501c3) organization committed to building a community home for end-of-life care.

“All of my staff had a significant interest in this,” said Tina Levielle-Briscoe, a member of the Gateway House’s board of directors and owner of Simplicity, A Salon, which offered street side clipper cuts and “blue streak” hair extensions.

She approached the board in March with the idea of a fall fundraising event that would not compete with other summertime charity events or the horse racing season.

“We believe that people need to be loved,” said Paul Brisson, Gateway’s director of strategic planning. He said that while fundraising is important because the organization receives no funding from the government, the mission Sunday was to educate the public about what services the house, and hospices in general, provide.

“Hospice is here to help people by providing emotional and spiritual support,” Brisson said, adding that local residents are very generous once they are informed about the charitable organization’s benefits.

The Gateway House will be a two-bed facility for residents who have three months or less to live. Designed as a home-like environment, the house will be an area for friends and family to gather, and an “extended family” of compassionate volunteers will be provided for terminally ill residents who have no other family.

There is currently an eight- bed overflow of hospice residents at the two facilities that already accommodate Saratoga County.

Brisson stressed that hospice care is not focused on death, but rather making people’s last days as joyous and fulfilling as possible for both them and their families. He recalled that a recent death of a close friend proved traumatic for the family because they had not entered a hospice sooner.

“It leaves a lasting effect,” he said.

The nonprofit is scheduled to meet with the Saratoga County Board of Supervisors Oct. 5 to discuss the divestiture of the old American Red Cross building on Rowland Street in Milton. Brisson said they are on pace to have the building renovated and providing services by 2012.

For information, call 654-5403 or go to the Gateway House of Peace website, www.gatewayhouseofpeace.org.

To make donations, make checks payable to:
Gateway House of Peace, P.O. Box 145, Greenfield Center, 12833.