COOK- Saturday’s rains couldn’t dampen the rays of hope shining from the faces of more than two dozen runners, walkers, and volunteers who turned out for the first-ever Hope for Hospice 4K Run/Walk, a benefit for Virgie Hegg Hospice Partners.
“COVID hit us kind of hard this last year,” board chairman Ivette Reing said. “(This year) we’re hoping to bring things that energize people and motivate people. People want to get out. They’re itching to do something. So we’re doing the 4K. It’s raining, but we got a good turnout.”
VHHP ensures and facilitates access to quality hospice and palliative care services for eligible patients in central St. Louis County, but they go beyond typical hospice programs by providing additional kinds of support for families.
“We try to be there when Medicare can’t cover something, or something that a hospital or insurance doesn’t cover, something like an airplane ticket for a family member out of the area or region who wants to come say their goodbyes,” Reing said. “We have gotten a lazy chair for somebody who just wants to be living in comfort and quality in their last days. So, we do anything we can do to supplement what insurances don’t cover. We are so unique. This is like no other program. I come from California, and I’ve never seen anything like this.”
VHHP also had never seen anything like the crowd assembled for the 4k on Saturday, although there clearly were no strangers there. Everyone had some connection, be it through family, board service, volunteerism, or being on the receiving end of VHHP services for a loved one. That included Shannon Martin, whose family became part of the VHHP family when they received services from the program during her husband David’s illness. David passed away May 6, and the inaugural Hope for Hospice 4K was dedicated to his memory.
Board member Barb Hegg smiled broadly as she surveyed the group before they headed off west on Ashawa Rd.
“The weather’s not so good, but it’s a nice turnout. Everyone’s got a smile on their face,” she said. “I think this will be an annual event.”
Hegg also commented about the heightened need for fundraising after the pandemic.
“It was a tough year on all of us, tough on programs like ours because we couldn’t do any fundraising,” she said. “We need to fundraise now, more than ever with COVID, there’s the need.”
Running through intermittent light rain and pushing his son Sebastian and nephew Anders in a running stroller ahead of him, Nathan Skon, of Tarrytown, NY, easily outdistanced the field with a time of 15 minutes, 30 seconds to claim first, even though Sebastian and Anders crossed the line ahead of him.
“My sister and brother-in-law, Cara Skon and A.J. Hegg, live in Duluth, and so we’re out visiting them for a couple of weeks,” Skon said. “We originally came out to do the Garry Bjorklund Half-Marathon at the Grandma’s Marathon last weekend, and then we added this race in this weekend. It’s so fun to be at a small event like this where everyone’s in good spirits and happy to be out, even though we’re in the rain.”
But this event wasn’t as much about competition as it was camaraderie, as the final recorded time on the results list wasn’t an individual, it was a group: “Hegg Family – 45:08.”
Other participants included Cara Hegg, 18:36; Dan Reing, 25:13; Kassie Lucas, 25:23; Isaiah Briggs, 32:81; Levi Chaulklin, 32:19; Kohen Briggs, 32:20; Heather Chaulklin, 35:00; Becky Smith, 35:01; Shannon Martin, 35:02; Laura Bergman, 35:04; Susan Gustafson, 35:35; Tifany Briggs, 35:35; Theresa Nystrom, 42:30; and Connie Larson, 42:30.
To learn more about Virgie Hegg Hospice Partners or to make a donation, go to their website at vhhp.org.