Campaign and Supporter Stories
National Estate Planning Awareness Week (NEPAW) was established in 2008 to highlight the importance of estate planning and ensure more people understand how to protect their financial assets and their loved ones. This year NEPAW will be held from October 21st through the 27th. This week serves as a reminder for individuals and families to take action and prepare for the future.
An estate plan is a thoughtful legal arrangement that allows you to guide the management of your financial assets, medical choices, and other responsibilities in the event you are unable to do so or at the end of your life. Essential elements include a will, power of attorney, and beneficiary designations for retirement accounts or life insurance policies. Estate planning ensures your wishes are carried out and provides security for your loved ones.
Why is Estate Planning a Vital Component of Financial Wellness?
Estate planning is a crucial part of financial health for several reasons. It allows you to direct how your assets are handled, ensuring that your loved ones are taken care of according to your wishes. With proper planning, you can also reduce estate taxes and avoid the costly probate process, which can delay asset distribution. And by making provisions for minor children or dependents, you ensure their well-being and future financial stability. A well-crafted plan prevents family disputes and provides clear guidance in the event of incapacitation or death.
Despite its importance, many Americans are unprepared. In fact, according to Caring.com 67% of Americans do not have an estate plan and 73% of parents with children under 18 have no legal plan in place. These statistics underscore the need for greater awareness and action.
Supporting Gift of Life Howie’s House Through Planned Giving
Gift of Life Howie’s House offers a meaningful way for individuals to support families in need through The Legacy Society for Planned Giving. By including the House in your estate plan, you can ensure that transplant families continue to receive the care and support they need for years to come.
Planned giving contributors, like Sean Rhoads, who chose to leave a legacy with the House, often do so out of gratitude for the profound impact the organization had on their families. Sean shared, “I know that by giving back to Howie’s House, I’m helping to provide a place for families going through a journey like ours.” Through estate planning, donors can continue supporting an organization close to their hearts while also securing their own financial wellness.
Join the Legacy Society Today
To learn more about how you can leave a lasting legacy at Gift of Life Howie’s House, please visit our Planned Giving page and discover how simple it can be to include a charitable gift in your estate plan. With your support, the House can continue to provide a “home away from home” for transplant families when they need it most.
We’d like to give a special shout out to our friends at Organ Recovery Systems, who not only cooked a meal for our families tonight but also recently supported our Home Cook Heroes Program with a generous pledge of $100,000! Organ Recovery Systems has been a partner in caring for transplant families at the House since 2011, and we could not be more grateful for their support of our mission.
“Supporting Gift of Life Howie’s House is a true privilege – their unwavering dedication to caring for transplant patients and their families is nothing short of inspiring, and Organ Recovery Systems is honored to play a small part in their incredible mission. Our team especially loves participating in the Home Cook Heroes Program, where we can offer comfort through meals and contribute to the sense of community and care that Howie’s House provides”, says Kayla Andalina, ORS team member.
Thank you to Organ Recovery Systems for more than 13 years of steadfast support for transplant families at the House!
The staff at the MTF Edison, NJ location organized a collection of wish list items that were most needed at the House. President and CEO, Rick Hasz, drove the shuttle with members of the Development team, Abby Wells and Sara Cohen, to stuff the shuttle and bring it back to the House!
MTF Biologics is a valued partner of Gift of Life and also supports the House through the Kidney Open, the Donor Dash, and by regularly volunteering as Home Cook Heroes.
Each year, many individuals are faced with the task of creating a will, yet many might find themselves putting off this important task. With National Make-A-Will Month approaching, there is no better time to address this crucial aspect of life planning. Make-A-Will Month serves as a suitable reminder of the importance of estate planning and ensuring that your wishes are legally documented and honored. The benefits of creating a will extend far past the peace of mind that it provides.
Throughout the month of August, we are encouraging individuals to plan ahead and create/update their will. Creating a will does not only entail distributing assets, but also making sure that your wishes are carried out accordingly. Without a will, the state in which you reside has control over your assets and decides where they should be distributed, which may not always align with your wishes. Having a will reduces stress and heartache for your loved ones who are already faced with grief and loss.
While the process of creating a will may seem long and tedious, it is not as time-consuming as you’d think. With the right legal assistance and resources, the process can run very smoothly.
Here at the House, you can ensure the future success of our mission by joining the Legacy Society for Planned Giving. By making a planned gift, you will help to ensure that we can maintain our affordable fees and a broad array of services for all who need us, now and in the future. Legacy Society Member, Sean, emphasized the importance of giving back. “If you really care about a cause or a charity, its good to be able to donate every year, but when you’re gone, those donations stop. If you care about a cause enough to support it, I think its important to keep supporting it even after you’re gone,” Sean explained. Visit the Legacy Society for Planned Giving page here to learn more about how you can make a difference in the lives of the transplant families we serve.
We hope that you will celebrate National Make-A-Will Month this August by making a planned gift to support our mission.
At Gift of Life Howie’s House, guests are provided with a private bedroom and bathroom that comes equipped with many of the necessities that families rely on when away from home. Many of those guests, however, experience limited mobility due to significant physical challenges that come with transplant and request rooms that are more accessible
Approximately 25% of guests make these requests. Unfortunately, many have to wait for a more accessible room to become available.
“You never know when you go somewhere if it’s going to be accessible, so knowing that we had this room where he could maneuver was a relief. It allowed him to have his privacy and independence, and I could have a little bit of free time as well. Even if it’s ten minutes where I could read a book while he showers, it makes a difference,”
– Donna Nelson, Past House Guest
Out of 32 guest rooms, only 5 have bathrooms that are equipped with walk-in showers. For some guests, navigating over the wall of a tub can be incredibly challenging or even impossible. Many patients require the use of a shower chair, which is also difficult to maneuver in an already tight space with a wet surface, like the bathtub.
Replacing a bathtub with a walk-in shower makes getting in and out much easier on both the patient and the caregiver. Guests with limited mobility do not have to worry about navigating over the wall of the tub, and those who require the use of a wheelchair have easier access inside of the bathroom and can transfer to a shower chair more smoothly.
Learn more about our campaign in our Spring 2023 Newsletter.
Spring Campaign 2023
Support the construction of four new, more accessible showers at the House.
Sunny skies and great friends coming together to support transplant families made this year’s Kidney Open Golf Outing a huge success! Thanks to our generous supporters, we were able to raise over $116,000 for Gift of Life Howie’s House!
The funds raised at this year’s Golf Outing will help us subsidize the cost of staying at the Howie’s House to keep our room fees low, and cover the costs of families who cannot afford to pay the nightly fee, making sure we never have to turn away a family due to inability to pay.
This year’s outing looked a little different than years prior, as we implemented many health and safety guidelines throughout the day and adapted the event to limit large social gatherings. Despite the obstacles, we were still able to raise much-needed funds for the Howie’s House so we can continue to support our mission of providing a “home away from home” for families undergoing the transplant journey.
As our guest speaker and past Howie’s House guest, Denise Hobbie, said during the event, “On a very tough and arduous journey, the Gift of Life Howie’s House was truly a welcome respite to me and my family.”
Whether you joined us out on the course, sponsored part of the outing, or volunteered to support our staff, we thank you for helping us provide for families like Denise’s.
We hope that you will join us next year for our 17th Annual Kidney Golf Outing!
We’d like to give a special thank you to all of our sponsors of this event! Thanks to your support, our mission to support transplant families remains strong.
2020 Kidney Open Sponsors
Golf Carts
Main Line Health
Shot Gun Start and Dinner
Bridge to Life, Ltd
Double Eagle
CareDX
Cornerstone Asset Management
CSL Behring
MTF Biologics
Nora – Nationwide Organ Recovery Transport Alliance
Quick Courier Service
VRL Eurofins
Eagle
Independence Blue Cross
Lions Eye Bank of the Delaware Valley
Mohan USA
Organ Recovery Systems, INC.
Quick Specialized Healthcare Logistics
Sinnott Executive Consulting
Birdie Sponsors
Highmark Blue Cross Shield Delaware
Howard M. Nathan
Apparel
Community Tissues Service
Lunch
Meridian Bank
Registration
Baker Tilly Virchow Krause, LLP
Course Refreshment Stations
Lincoln Financial Group
Warner Benefits / HRAdministrators
Coffee Station
Lincoln Financial Group
Practice Range
Einstein Healthcare Network
Signage Sponsor
Garrison
Putting Contest
Gillespie Electric, Inc.
Closest to the Pin Contest
The Arthur Jackson Co.
Longest Drive Contest
Wye Realty Advisors
Straightest Drive Contest
Transplant Alliance Foundation
Hole-In-One Car Sponsor
Scott Honda of West Chester
Hole Sponsors
Affinity Wealth Management
Dr. Linda Barrasse
C Change Surgical
Gallagher Benefit Services
Kimmel, Carter, Roman, Peltz & O’Neill
Miller Pipeline
Premier Orthopedics
Tozour Energy
Venture Jets
Walker Lodge #306
Wohlsen Construction
The Independent Order of Odd Fellows New Jersey (IOOFNJ) has been a longtime supporter of the Howie’s House mission.
Former grandmaster, late heart transplant recipient and wonderful friend Harold Delhagen connected our two missions many years ago, and since, IOOFNJ has made a real difference in the lives of transplant families.
They supported our initial capital campaign to help build the Howie’s House and open our doors by underwriting one of our guest rooms. They’ve helped transplant families who couldn’t afford our nightly fee with a contribution to our Adopt-A-Family program. Additionally, IOOFNJ has volunteered on many occasions in our kitchen to provide warm, home-cooked meals to our guests in the evenings as part of our Home Cook Heroes program.
Most recently, they generously committed to a multi-year sponsorship of our shuttle program to help bring transplant patients and their family members back and forth from Philadelphia hospitals and the Howie’s House.
This contribution to our mission helps provide a much-needed service to our guests so they don’t have to navigate an unfamiliar city alone or pay expensive parking fees while caring for a loved one undergoing the transplant process.
In 2019 alone, their support helped us travel over 16,000 miles to provide more than 1,100 trips to and from Philadelphia hospitals and the Howie’s House!
IOOFNJ is an organization based on the foundations of Friendship, Love and Truth, and seeks to make our world a better one to live in through charitable work on various projects in their community.
We are so grateful for their support and look forward to serving transplant families with them in the future!
Theresa had considered herself knowledgeable about organ and tissue donation after seeing how it worked as a respiratory therapist, but when her co-worker’s granddaughter passed away and became an organ donor, she was inspired to learn more about the process.
After learning about the Howie’s House through a Gift of Life presentation, she and her family held a fundraiser to support our mission to care for transplant families. They also signed up to participate in our Home Cook Heroes program under the team name “Team Shea” as a tribute to her co-worker’s granddaughter.
“We had such a great time cooking meals for these families…and we’ve been volunteering ever since!” Theresa says.
Since her team’s initial visit in 2017, they’ve been back several times and have earned an All-Stars a plate on our wall.
Joining Theresa in our kitchen are her children and her grandkids. They prepare comforting meals like shepherd’s pie and meatballs and ziti. Sometimes they serve fun, interactive meals like “Walk-Around Tacos” where guests can create their own taco salads in a Frito’s bag.
Along with dinner, Team Shea brings games and gives guests a chance to win items like puzzle books, decks of cards, paperback books, or candy.
“We figured some of these items could make their time waiting a little easier,” Theresa adds. “No matter how bad a day they may have had, the Howie’s House guests are so nice and appreciative. It’s amazing.”
Team Shea also provides dessert!
“One time, a guest asked me if he could bring some extra cookies to his wife in the hospital to cheer her up,” Theresa says. “It amazed me that something Team Shea did—something so little—would make his wife’s time in the hospital a little bit better.”
Volunteers like Team Shea are such a vital part of our mission. Their hard work and dedication in our kitchen help us welcome transplant families home and lessen their burden of worrying about what to eat or where to get it after a long day.
Theresa hopes other people will become inspired to learn about the Howie’s House and its Home Cook Heroes program.
“People should go to the Howie’s House to see what it’s like and donate their time,” she says. “The staff tries so hard to make the guests feel as comfortable as possible. It’s even better than I imagined it to be.”
We had a very special wish granted…
…we have new laundry machines!
Last fall, our friends from Hercules, a laundry room equipment provider from Long Island, NY, generously donated five brand new washer and dryer sets to the Howie’s House!
Imagine having to suddenly relocate to a city you’ve never been to—you have to find a place to stay, food to eat…the last thing on your mind may be where to wash your clothes. You might not even have detergent, a laundry basket, or quarters to put into machines at the laundromat.
Because our guests can take the stairs or elevator right to our laundry room, they don’t have to worry about how to get their personal belongings to and from a laundromat. This convenience helps make the Howie’s House feel like “home” and gives our guests more time to focus on what’s most important—taking care of themselves and their loved ones.
“What the Gift of Life Howie’s House provides to its residents and their families, in terms of support and inspiration, is truly heartwarming,” Andrew May, President and CEO at Hercules, says.
“After our Hercules Account Manager, Tom Jeppestol, brought to my attention the needs of the Howie’s House with respect to their laundry facility, I didn’t hesitate for a minute in determining how we could support such a worthwhile organization. The patients and their families certainly have enough to deal with, waiting for transplants and follow-up appointments. It’s my pleasure to be able to help make their stay at Howie’s House as comfortable and stress-free as possible.”
The new washers and dryers will allow our guests to do their laundry for free during their stay. They can put their clothes in the wash, head back to their rooms or make a snack in the kitchen, and come right back down when they’re ready to be switched.
Thank you so much to Andrew and everyone else at Hercules who made this wonderful gift possible!
Are you from an organization looking to give a charitable gift? At the Howie’s House, we can always use a hand to help serve our transplant families. If you’re interested in making a gift, please contact Sara Cohen, Development Manager, by email at scohen@giftoflifefamilyhouse.org or phone at 267-546-9800.
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