Golden Valley Memorial Healthcare | Health Scene Winter 2016

3 / 4

Time to stretch your toes, grab your
sneakers and mark your calendars after
a long winter of sitting on the couch! The
date has been set for the annual Golden
Valley Memorial Healthcare Diabetes
Walk.
The 2016 event will take place at 9 a.m.
on Saturday, March 19, at the Clinton High
School. All proceeds from the walk will
help local diabetes patients who are cop-
ing with the disease.
“Each year, more individuals receive a
diabetes diagnosis, which is life-changing,”
says Deanna Hendrich, GVMH Founda-
tion Director. “The money we raise gives
patients without resources the prescrip-
tions, supplies and education needed to
manage their illness.”
Local businesses, groups and individu-
als either form teams or help sponsor the
walk, which has raisedmore than $100,000
in the past decade, Hendrich says.
“We count on the community to help
us make a difference,” she says. “Every
dollar counts.”
Anyone interested in a team packet or
sponsorship information should call the
GVMH Foundation office, 660-890-7108,
or email .
Gifts made to the Foundation, a
nonprofit organization, are tax-deductible.
When the Golden Valley Memorial Hos-
pital Foundation was formed in 1989, the
organization’s charter board members
knew they were on to a good idea: Offer
donors a way to make tax-deductible gifts
to help support quality healthcare in the
community.
What they didn’t know was how effec-
tive that idea would be and how much the
Foundation would grow during the next
quarter century.
The new donor wall in the GVMH hospital lobby represents $1.5 million in cumulative giving, according to Deanna Hendrich,
Foundation Director. The wall provides a way to recognize individuals and businesses that want to invest in quality healthcare for
the community.
It’s your move
E xercise is one of the best things
you can do to help keep your heart
healthy. It helps reduce total choles-
terol, lower blood pressure and cut
the risk of diabetes, and it helps you
maintain a healthy weight.
To get moving and stay on track:
● ● Start slowly, especially if you haven’t
been active for a while.
● ● Work up to whatever amount of activity
your doctor recommends.
The American Heart Association recom-
mends that all adults do at least 30 minutes
of moderately intense exercise five days
a week and strengthening exercises twice
a week.
● ● Keep things interesting by trying dif-
ferent activities. Walking, biking or swim-
ming can be fun, but so can working in
the garden.
● ● Stop exercising if you have severe
pain or swelling, but expect a
little muscle soreness
at first.
● ● If you have to stop
exercising for a while,
don’t get discour-
aged. Just start again,
and work up to your
previous level.
The growth did not come quickly. The
Foundation reached $25,000 in contribu-
tions in 1993, and a year later a donor rec-
ognition wall was installed at the hospital.
“The first blocks on the wall didn’t begin
to fill the space, but the Foundation board
had big dreams,” says Deanna Hendrich,
Foundation Director. She says the wall
included wooden blocks in various sizes,
depending on the size of the gift, engraved
with donors’ names.
“Last year we reached $1.5 million in
cumulative giving and ran out of wall
space,” she says, “so we began the process
of designing a new wall in a location where
everyone would see it.”
Donors
recognized
Date set for
annual GVMH
DiabetesWalk
The result is an eye-catching display in
the hospital lobby that gives the Founda-
tion room to recognize donors for years
to come, Hendrich says.
“Many people stop for a minute to read
the names on the wall,” she says. “Each
name has a story. We appreciate that so
many individuals and businesses value
what we do and are willing to invest in us
because we grow one dollar and one gift
at a time.”
Anyone who wants to be part of the
growth with a tax-deductible gift can
call the Foundation office at
6 6 0 - 8 9 0 - 7 1 0 8 o r e m a i l
.
W I N T E R 2 0 1 6 H E A L T H S C E N E 3
N E W S , V I E W S & T I P S H E A L T H T A L K
HEART ATTACK:
Know the warning signs
If you see these in yourself or someone
else, don’t wait. CALL 911.
Source:American HeartAssociation
Pain in the arms, shoulder, back,
neck, jaw or stomach
Sudden lightheadedness, shortness
of breath, nausea or cold sweat
Chest pain, pressure, fullness or
squeezing that lasts more than a
few minutes or comes and goes