From left to right: Board of Regents member Sr. Sheila Browne RSM, Chief Executive of Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center Julie Sprengel, Kayla Santos ‘17, and Head of School Joe Sciuto.
PHS Raises Money to Establish End-of-Life Ministry
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t is a long held tradition at Providence to commemorate the season of Lent by raising money to support a worthy charity or cause. This year, the Providence community chose to dedicate this year’s “People of Providence Lenten Charity Drive” to raising funds to aid in the establishment of a unique ministry which will serve the Burbank and Tarzana communities: No One Dies Alone (NODA). NODA is a palliative care/end of life ministry found in many Providence hospitals in the Pacific Northwest. The mission of this ministry is simple: to ensure that dying patients, who have no living or present family or friends, are not forced to spend their final days or hours alone. NODA volunteers spend time talking with patients, praying with them, and tending to their comfort needs.
and necessary way. The season of Lent calls to reflect even more deeply on the mystery of God’s love and to consider how we can better share that love with the most forgotten of our society; raising awareness about NODA in the PHS community allows us to do just that.” Throughout the season of Lent, students collected spare change in their religion classes. Many students also chose to donate the money they saved from giving something up for Lent. The PHS Associated Student Body also generously donated the proceeds from ticket sales for this year’s Theme Day to support the cause. PHS collected $3,250, which will be donated and used for the training of volunteers and the purchasing of supplies for a new NODA program at both Providence Saint Joseph and Providence Tarzana Medical Centers.
“Many people often seem surprised when I share that our school is involved in supporting an end-of-life ministry,” admits PHS Campus Minister Mr. Nicolas Estrada ‘07. “But we feel that this is an ideal opportunity for Providence to live out its mission of revealing God’s love for the poor and the vulnerable in a very real
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Spring 2016
