Hospice of the Red River Valley invites health care professionals to its January Lunch and Learn as we continue to explore various topics related to end-of-life care. Hospice of the Red River Valley is an approved provider of continuing education for social workers in North Dakota. This program will be awarded 1 contact hour.

The next Lunch and Learn will take place on Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2016, from noon-1 p.m.

Juli Caron, chaplain with Sanford Health System, will present “Ethical Issues at the End of Life.”

In this session, participants will discuss ethical issues and dilemmas that may arise in end-of-life care and describe specific roles of the nurse in ethical decision-making. Attendees will also describe advance directives and their role in preventing ethical dilemmas and learn how to apply ethical principles in addressing end-of-life care dilemmas, including models for case analysis and use of an ethics committees.

For your convenience, Lunch and Learns will be held at five Hospice of the Red River Valley locations:

• 1701 38th St. SW, Fargo, N.D.
• 2860 10^th Avenue North, Suite 400, Grand Forks, N.D.
• 415 Main Street, Lisbon, N.D.
• 1240 W Main Street, Valley City, N.D.
• 1111 Highway 10, Detroit Lakes, Minn.

The Detroit Lakes, Grand Forks, Lisbon and Valley City offices will be connected via videoconference to the Fargo office, where the live presentation will take place.

Pre-registration is required because space is limited. RSVP to Missy Haut at melissa.haut@hrrv.org or 701-356-1563 one week prior to the Lunch and Learn, and indicate which location you will be attending. Participants may bring their own lunches; coffee and water will be provided.

Lunch and Learns are free and open to all health care professionals. Lunch and Learns in 2016 will be held every other month starting in January on the third Tuesday of the month from noon to 1 p.m. Specific topics and descriptions will be shared closer to each date.

Employees and retirees of the Minnesota Department of Transportation, Minnesota State Patrol and Driver & Vehicle Services in Detroit Lakes held their 21st annual employee holiday potluck and fundraiser for Hospice of the Red River Valley on Dec. 15, 2015. This year’s event raised $2,330.

Every December, these agencies transform their lunchroom into a workshop of handcrafted and home-cooked items. Proceeds from the potluck have raised a total of $26,845 for Hospice of the Red River Valley since the event’s inception in 1995.

Dana Casey, Trudy Kordosky and Keven Meacham organize the annual event. Current and former employees donate a variety of items for the potluck and drawing, many of them handmade, including salsa and other goodies. Each year, the most highly coveted items are handmade quilts and crocheted blankets.

The Thundering Saints recently donated $8,000 to Hospice of the Red River Valley, generated from proceeds of the Seventh Annual Debbie Gabel Memorial Cancer Ride and Raffle, which was held in Valley City on July 25. The donation will be used to provide compassionate end-of-life care to those in Valley City and surrounding communities.

This year’s ride attracted around 100 registered motorcycles. After the ride, they enjoyed dinner at Boomer’s, a live auction, a street dance featuring Blackwater and a raffle. The Debbie Gabel Memorial Cancer Ride and Raffle is held each year on the fourth Saturday in July to raise funds. Next year’s event will be July 23, 2016.

Event founder Rocky Gabel, who owns Gabel Masonry Construction in Valley City, holds the event in memory of his wife, Debbie, whom he lost to ovarian cancer in 2009. Hospice of the Red River Valley cared for Debbie. “Hospice provided vital support and care to my wife and my family,” Gabel said. “I see this event as an opportunity to give back and help others locally.”

Thundering Saints, Inc., is the non-profit organization that organizes the Debbie Gabel Memorial Cancer Ride and Raffle to raise money to help individuals fighting the battle with cancer. If you or someone you know has cancer, or if you’d like more information, please visit www.thunderingsaints.com, or call 701-490-0306 or 701-490-1446 to share your story.

Employees of Bobcat Company in Gwinner, N.D., selected Hospice of the Red River Valley as the recipient of the company’s employee giving campaign. A check for more than $16,000 was presented to Hospice to support end-of-life care in the region.

For three weeks, employees raised money through bake sales, silent auctions, raffles and employee gifts. A special thank you to members of United Steelworkers Local 560 for their vital role in the fundraiser. 

“Our thanks to the employees of Bobcat for their commitment to ensuring hospice care continues long into the future,” said Jane Bartholomay, development officer at Hospice of the Red River Valley. The donation will be used to provide compassionate end-of-life care to those in Gwinner, Lisbon and the surrounding communities.

To learn more about making a gift to Hospice, call (800) 237-4629 and ask to speak with a development officer.