To the Editor:
I am writing to express my concern about the Hospice Support Fund. This fund, formally known as the Hospice Fund of America, solicits funds across the United States for donations to support local non-profit hospices. A letter recently was sent out in our area soliciting donations. It is misleading to the residents of our community as it creates the belief that they are supporting their local hospice. As the only nonprofit hospice in Richmond County, we wanted to warn our community of its solicitation.
In its 2015 charitable solicitation filing with North Carolina’s Secretary of State, the combined fundraising for this fund totaled $1.5 million. Of this $1.5 million raised last year by the Hospice Support Fund, not one penny found its way to Richmond County Hospice or any other nonprofit hospice in the Sandhills area. According to the disclosers on its website and the fine print in its letter, “expense distribution was 69.39 percent on fundraising, 10.22 percent on administration, 5.93 percent on program services and 14.46 percent on public education in conjunction with fundraising appeals.” That leaves 0.00 percent for local hospice support!
This organization, the Hospice Support Fund, is in no way connected with Richmond County Hospice.
We are proud to be your home town hospice, the local hospice and choice for our patients here in Richmond County. You often hear the saying, “Shop local”. The same goes for your charitable donations: “Give local”. Your donations to Richmond County Hospice directly support hospice care in Richmond County, including our Benevolent Care and Bereavement Care programs.
For 31 years, Richmond County Hospice has been dedicated to our county and its residents. We continue fulfilling our mission each and every day as the only nonprofit hospice serving Richmond County, where no patient is ever turned away regardless of their ability to pay.
In Hospice service,
Kristina Leyden, MSW, LCSW
Chief Executive Officer, Richmond County Hospice
