Over 60 members attended the annual meeting of the St. Andrews Auxiliary on Wednesday, Oct. 18. The delicious luncheon, always a draw for many, was hosted by St Andrews Village whose many programs the Auxiliary helps support.

The event opened with presenter Helen Weld, who, to the great benefit of our region, is a palliative care and hospice nurse for Miles and St Andrews Home Health and Hospice.

In 1975, while backpacking in Sudan as a young woman, Weld happened upon a severely injured man in a remote mountain area. Weld helped the man down the mountain after wrapping his machete wound in a banana leaf. The experience was an “epiphany” that launched a nursing career that began in the U.S. and Australia but has since extended across several more continents. After graduating with a master's in public health from James Cook University in Australia in 2007, Weld fulfilled a dream of helping underserved communities meet overwhelming challenges with life saving and health enhancing projects that spanned eight countries in places as far flung as Pakistan, the African continent and Indonesia, and as close to home as Haiti.

Weld now focuses on providing good palliative and hospice care to the local community when she is not traveling to lend a hand in faraway places. Weld shared a quote from an article published in The Economist on 29 April, 2017 entitled “How to have a better death,” that reads “death is inevitable, a bad death is not,” a dictum she seems to fully embrace in her nursing endeavors.

Lunch and the business portion of the meeting followed the presentation. Outgoing President Carol Ostermann provided a brief summary of Auxiliary activities over the past year and thanked all for their participation and dedication to the organization.

Penny Thumith reported the Thrift Shop had a good summer where brisk business and a July bag sale resulted in strong weekly totals for the season. The double your money certificates offered during the annual November “Early Bird” sale in the harbor was better than ever in 2016 and helped offset the slower winter intake. Watch for this popular sale again this month on Early Bird shopping day!

There is always a need for volunteer workers at the shop as business continues to expand and flourish. Thumith, head volunteer of the operation, is currently looking for a few willing hands to cover some three hour shifts on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings and Thursday afternoons. She expressed her thanks to the more than 50 volunteers who offer their time and talents every week to provide this vital service to the community but, in an organization overwhelmingly female, Thumith gave credit by name to Wayne Gilbert, Rick Gilde, Alan Boyes, Nels Groneng and Wayne Sheridan for jumping in this fall to help with a reconfiguration of display space. It is the revenue generated by the thrift shop that funds donations to various health care organizations throughout our region.

This year, LincolnHealth President and CEO Jim Donovan was in attendance to accept a check in the amount of $53,483.50. Broken down by item, the funds will cover a ceiling lift and six recliners for the Zimmerli Pavilion ($13,297), two bariatric beds and mattresses for the Gregory Wing ($5,655) and a Stryker stretcher for the Urgent Care ($16,776). The Gregory Wing, Assisted Living and Safe Havens will each receive a Spot Vital Signs machine for a total of $7,755, and an additional $10,000 was earmarked for the Tufts Medical School program that brings medical students to Lincoln County for exposure to rural medicine.

Donovan expressed his gratitude for the dedication of the St. Andrews Auxiliary to the health and well being of the Boothbay region. As in the past, money will also be designated for programs such as the Boothbay Region Ambulance Service (BRAS), Lifeflight of Maine, and the Boothbay Region Community Resources (BRCR) program, Food for Thought.

Linda Redman, scholarship chair, reported that three high school students are currently receiving scholarships for physical therapy through programs at Husson University, Quinnipiac University and University of Vermont. The Auxiliary helps support one returning adult student studying occupational therapy at the University of New England and a single parent studying Radiography at Southern Maine Community College. In addition, Auxiliary funding has helped six Lincoln Health employees further their education with courses in early dementia predictors, wound education, home care and hospice and stabilizing core and joints. Two returning adult nursing students are receiving full scholarships at Central Maine Community College/Damariscotta campus with money from the Fran Hale Scholarship Fund. Total giving for health care educational pursuits in 2017, excluding the gift for the Tufts program mentioned above, amounts to $16,526.99.

This year, a total of 8,997 hours were given by Auxilians in volunteer service. In addition to those who volunteer at the thrift store, over 25 volunteers offer their time in various capacities at the Village and on the St. Andrews (SA) campus. There are also those who serve in board or administrative positions and those who participate in special events such as the annual Christmas luncheon that recognizes SA campus and Village employees for their dedication and contribution to the community.

Before the passing of the gavel, the nominations committee presented the slate of proposed incoming officers which included Irene Gerny, president; Leal Brinegar, vice president; Judy Boyes, treasurer; Jane Mulholland, recording secretary; and Ginger Carr, corresponding secretary. Upon unanimous agreement, Irene Gerny assumed her presidential role and announced her committee chairs for the coming year. New to the board will be Patty Calhoun, membership; Laura Zajdel, service records; and Leslie Cook, volunteers. Carol Lingard will move from treasurer to social activities and Carol Ostermann will now serve as a member at-large. 

Special thanks were given to St. Andrews Village Executive Director Loriman Looke and his staff for the wonderful support the Auxiliary has received over the years, and to outgoing social chair Ann Kelley for organizing the luncheon event.

The St. Andrews Auxiliary actively supports the continued development of exceptional medical care services and programs that encourage good health practices for the people of the Boothbay region and welcomes new members to the organization who either want to volunteer or simply stand in support of Auxiliary goals. Stop by the thrift store for an application and/or information on joining the Auxiliary.