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Volunteers filled the elegant lakeside venue with sunflowers, sumptuous food and wine, and the joy of a true celebration. Throughout the evening, Italian tenors, dressed as waiters, took the podium with tales of fictitious peccadillos, then burst into opera’s most beloved arias. The sounds of Motown drew crowds onto the dance floor.
Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton, as master of ceremonies, started off the evening by making a personal donation. He then entertained guests with offers to cut mill rates, give keys to cities and lift parking bans, even in towns not under his jurisdiction. It was all in jest to prompt guests to buy raffle tickets for high-end prizes and donate to match a generous challenge grant from the Smart Family Foundation.
An Evening in Tuscany netted $130,000 to support Regional Hospice’s care at home and at its new Center for Comfort Care & Healing and free bereavement support programs at its Healing Hearts Center for Grief & Loss.
It was an evening where the splendid Tuscan sun was palpable – warming the hearts of every person in the room who has watched this once-small grassroots agency take on great odds to turn its vision for the most compassionate end-of-life care into reality for families.
After eight years of planning, working to pass new state legislation, raising the project’s funding, rewriting each state regulation as it applies to every aspect of care in a new state-of-the-art building, and refining every design detail to feel welcoming, serene and home-like; Regional Hospice opened its Center for Comfort Care & Healing in Danbury on Feb. 17.
“We are privileged to do this kind of care in our Center for Comfort Care & Healing because of all of you. You are the advocates for our care, you attend our gala and our chapter events, and help us raise money to take care of our patients. You tell your friends about our amazing nurses and clinical staff; you come out to support our work. You most of all believe in the mission of the care we provide, and for that I will be eternally grateful,'' said Regional Hospice President and CEO Cynthia E. Roy.
United States Senator Richard D. Blumenthal, Newtown First Selectman Pat Llodra and Ridgefield First Selectman Rudy Marconi were among the evening’s 300 guests.
Regional Hospice & Home Care is a non-profit, state-licensed and Medicare-certified home health care and hospice agency. Now, with the opening of our new private-room, specialty hospital for palliative and end-of-life care — the Center for Comfort Care & Healing — Regional Hospice and Home Care can bring that same hope and compassionate care close to home and under one roof. For more information, visit www.RegionalHospiceCT.org.
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