One dedicated couple, special angels from Cheraw, focus their gifts and time to help patients receiving end-of-life care.

Serving their beloved Cheraw community has always been a major life purpose for Pat and M.B. Godbold. For 50 years, M.B. has helped others plan for their families’ security by guiding them through important life insurance decisions. Now, he ministers as a McLeod Hospice Volunteer in Cheraw. Pat, a retired librarian at Cheraw High School, devotedly coordinates the bereavement committee at the First Baptist Church of Cheraw, which provides meals for local families who have lost loved ones.

In 2017, in light of his longstanding commitment to the community, M.B. was asked to represent Chesterfield and Marlboro Counties on the McLeod Hospice Advisory Board.

As the McLeod Hospice program in Cheraw grew, hospital leadership recognized the need for a dedicated hospital room
for hospice patients and their families. A patient’s environment is crucial to maintaining comfort and peace of mind during a terminal illness.

The McLeod Foundation asked M.B. to steer fundraising efforts to renovate a patient room dedicated to hospice care.

“After Pat and I visited the McLeod Hospice House in Florence, we fully appreciated the importance of the room environment,” M.B. explained.

“We witnessed the compassionate care provided in this setting as hospice professionals ministered to both the patient and family during end of life.”

Inspired by this visit, M.B. and Pat wanted to do more than simply help raise funds… they decided to personally fund the room renovations at McLeod Health Cheraw. The Godbold’s generous commitment was fulfilled through a tax-wise IRA Rollover and an appreciated stock gift.

“McLeod Health Cheraw now has a patient room with the comfortable features of the McLeod Hospice House,” M.B. proclaimed. “Pat and I are thankful we could help provide this compassionate care for the people of Chesterfield and Marlboro Counties.”

Beth Ann Owen and her family understand this all too well. They began their generous support of McLeod Hospice after her father was in need of this compassionate care.

“I am a nurse by profession,” Beth Ann said. “I knew what hospice was, but I did not become intimately involved with hospice until my father was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 1996.”

Beth Ann’s father was fortunate to have insurance and the financial means to cover unforeseen needs during his illness. But many other patients are in difficult situations and see those unanticipated needs go unmet.

Serving has always played a profound role in Beth Ann’s life. So, when she learned about the establishment of the Butterfly Fund she wanted to be involved. Beth Ann readily agreed to chair the Advisory Committee.

She explained, “By meeting the needs of others and removing the financial stress, we are helping caregivers provide a calmer, more peaceful environment for their loved ones in the end stages of life.”

Nurse practitioners and social workers who care for patients in their homes see the sad realities every day.

They see difficult living conditions like holes in the floor and regularly encounter patients who must choose between paying for electricity or their medications. The needs are real.

Gifts to the Butterfly Fund provide funding to meet critical, immediate needs for Hospice and Palliative care patients who struggle financially during their time of care.

Because of loyal supporters like you, the Butterfly Fund has been able to help patients like 50-year-old, Marianne — a McLeod Hospice patient. She and her husband are both disabled and moved south when they became homeless. McLeod staff helped them find a home they could afford to rent. Through your gifts, Marianne’s home received minor repairs to make her life and care easier.

Beth Ann and all who care for these patients are grateful for generous donors like you who believe in the Butterfly Fund.

“One of Mom’s attributes that we are most grateful for is her caring nature and her compassionate heart. The opportunity to support the McLeod Hospice program seemed to be the perfect fit to honor our Mother’s kind spirit as McLeod Hospice provides compassionate care to so many patients and families at a time when they need it most,” added John.

John and Mary Wallace consulted with the McLeod Foundation on how they could support the hospice program and decided to establish a McLeod Hospice Tree Lighting Sponsor Endowment. The endowment will provide funding for McLeod Hospice in perpetuity and the gift will honor Teena every year at the annual “A Light for Someone You Love” Tree Lighting ceremony.

“The perpetual nature of this gift will be a way to honor Mom each Christmas for many years to come,” explained Mary Wallace. “The timing of the tree lighting is also significant for our family because Mom has always demonstrated to us the true meaning of the Christmas season and has made every Christmas extra special for our family.

“These are values and traditions that I hope to be able to pass along to my children. The annual hospice tree lighting will become a special part of that tradition, and I hope it will help to inspire my children to live their lives and appreciate each Christmas in the same way that their Grandmother always has,” said Mary Wallace.

Establishing a McLeod Hospice Tree Lighting Sponsor Endowment

Endowed gifts may be set up through current gifts or deferred gifts.

Current Gifts: An outright gift of at least $25,000 can be made with cash, appreciated stock or through the new IRA Rollover option.  These may also be made as part of a multi-year pledge.

Deferred Gifts: A gift of at least $25,000 can be designated to McLeod Foundation to fund an endowment through a will bequest, retirement asset beneficiary designation, insurance policy or other estate commitment.

Annual funding to support the work of McLeod Hospice begins once the gift is fully endowed.

For more information on making an endowed gift, please call the McLeod Foundation at (843) 777-2694.