Cub Scouts and Area Families Bring Snow Fun and Smiles to Patients at Center for Hope in Scotch Plains

    SCOTCH PLAINS, NJ, February 21, 2021 /24-7PressRelease/ -- The recent snowstorm provided an opportunity for local children and families to bring smiles to the patients at the Center for Hope in Scotch Plains. Volunteer Coordinator Stacy Kaplan and Lisa Simonetti, a Center volunteer, talked about having local children build snowmen outside patients' windows for them to enjoy. Kaplan put out the word to her volunteer corps, which filtered to a former volunteer-turned employee, Galila Bartolucci, who got her child's Cub Scout troop involved. From Thursday, February 4 through that weekend, scouts from Pack 273 joined local families to build a variety of whimsical snowmen and snow ladies, with some edible props provided by the kitchen staff.

"I was so overwhelmed by the amount of support from our volunteers and Cub Scout Pack 273," said Kaplan. "It only took a day to spread the word and get volunteers to show up and bring some joy to our patients, who watched the action from the safety of their rooms—and now have something fun to see out their windows."

The Center for Hope offers hospice and palliative care in its two residences in Scotch Plains and Elizabeth, and provides hospice care to patients in the wider community where they live. For more information or to find out about volunteer opportunities, visit www.cfhh.org.

About Center for Hope Hospice & Palliative Care, Inc.
Center for Hope Hospice & Palliative Care (Center for Hope) is a non-profit, community-based organization that provides terminally ill patients with hospice care, and their families or loved ones with physical, emotional, and spiritual support during their time of need. The Center actively supports the individual's right to live out the remainder of their life with dignity and in comfort, surrounded by the love of family and friends, and eased from the burdens of physical, emotional, spiritual, financial or social distress. Center for Hope welcomes all terminally ill patients, their families and loved ones without concern for race, ethnicity, religious affiliation or ability to pay. It also offers pain and symptom management for chronically ill and seriously ill patients through its palliative care program. Center for Hope operates two facilities in Scotch Plains and Elizabeth; the latter provides nearly $3.5 million a year in charity care. For more information, visit www.cfhh.org.

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