St. Camillus recently received a generous gift of $25,000 through The Friends of St. Camillus, an organization made up entirely of local volunteers.
“Our sincerest gratitude to the Friends of St. Camillus,” said St. Camillus President Michael Schafer. “Their unwavering support, dedication and hard work allows us to continuously upgrade our beautiful facility and to enhance the quality of life for St. Camillus residents and patients.”
The recent funds have been earmarked to support interior improvements in resident and patient rooms, including upgraded lighting, rolling window shades and valences.
The Friends of St. Camillus was organized in 1992 as a volunteer organization operation under St. Camillus Residential Health Care Facility Auxiliary. Since then, the organization has worked tirelessly to fulfill their mission to enhance the quality of life at St. Camillus.
The Friends of St. Camillus achieves its mission through a variety of services, most notably the St. Camillus Gift Shop. It is through this endeavor that a grant program was developed to make funds available to St. Camillus departments and programs. The 2024-2025 grant was generated mostly through funds raised by the operation of the St. Camillus gift shop.
“The only thing more incredible than the caliber of our gift shop is the absolutely amazing volunteers who contribute to its success,” said Schafer. “They have transformed the St. Camillus gift shop into a total shopping experience — by introducing creative and thoughtful initiatives and dedicating countless hours of hard work. Through the sale of items like snacks and treats, a coffee bar, personal amenities, an ice-cream stand and even seasonal home décor that our residents like to purchase for their rooms, they are able to raise substantial funds. And in turn, these monies are returned to St. Camillus to benefit the patients and residents who live here. It is truly impressive that their everyday effort, one sale at a time, leads to such a significant impact.”
“As a member of The Friends of St. Camillus, as well as gift shop volunteer for more than 30 years, I am thrilled to see all of our hard work paying off. A special thank you to Artemis Gilbert and Selma Salmons, co-managers of the gift shop, for all of their hard work including personally purchasing goods from local businesses,” said Shirley Cruickshank.