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Date: 12/6/2018
CHICOPEE – You could win $25 or $100 every day in January, for a mere $10 investment.
Once again this December, Harmony House, a 5013c non-profit organization that provides care for the terminally ill in a private home setting, is hosting its January Calendar Card Raffle to help support the organization’s ongoing work.
“The Raffle Calendar project has been in play for several years now,” Lynn Larrabee, a volunteer and publicity contact for Harmony House told Reminder Publishing. “We are currently selling the calendars for a $10 donation; every day during the month of January we will draw a name to win either $25 or $100 cash.”
Larrabee said individuals could purchase a raffle card by “calling Harmony House at 413-331-5252, emailing us at harmonyhousewma.org, or from any volunteer or board member.”
She added the raffle cards would be on sale to the public through Dec. 31, with the first drawing to take place on New Year’s Day. A total of $1,000 in prizes will be given away, and winner’s names will be resubmitted for multiple chances to win. According to the organization’s website, www.harmonyhousewma.org, all winners will be announced on the website or the organization’s Facebook page, with checks mailed to winners at the end of January.
Harmony House, which epitomized what is know as “the social model of care for the dying,” currently operates a home on Pendleton Avenue where trained volunteers and a handful of paid staff provide compassionate daily end-of-life care for individuals with few or no family and resources. Because Harmony House is not a medical facility, there is no federal or state funding available to fund their work, and the organization is supported entirely through fundraisers such as the Calendar Card Raffle, donations and grants. The non-profit is the dream of longtime hospice volunteer Ruth Willemain, who was inspired to found Harmony House after visiting a similar non-profit private home for the terminally ill in the Midwest. The non-profit is currently renovating a larger home in Chicopee where it can care for more individuals.
“We are constantly fundraising to provide monies for our operating expenses and to renovate the new home,” Larrabee said, adding that individuals interested in supporting their work beyond the Calendar Card Raffle can do so on the organization website.
She said Harmony House is also always” in need of volunteers for direct resident care, housekeeping, yard work, office work, and everything needed to keep an organization and a home running smoothly.” Individuals interested in volunteering their time to assist the work of Harmony house can call 331-5252 “and one of our board members will return the call,” she said.