Hospice, Hospitals & Caregivers...

Numerous Caring Coins have been shared through hospice programs, hospitals and with caregivers and other family members. The response to the Caring Coins seems to be universal as seen with the following comments.

Baskets with Caring Coins are offered to patients and their families at many hospitals, hospices and clinics. One Social Worker remarked "…I put the Caring Coins in a basket at the central desk. Within 3 hours, they were gone! The coins seem to provide a measure of peace and comfort."
"I took the coins and bookmarks in to chemo today, and the Social Worker put them out in a lovely basket at the central desk. By the time I left 3 hours later, all the coins were gone! The Social Worker and staff were thrilled to have the coins to give out, and even more so to learn about your foundation."

A Hospice shared a Caring Coin with each of their volunteers at their annual picnic for the Hospice Volunteers. The Director of Volunteers wrote, "The volunteers were very thrilled with the Caring Coins. They had never seen anything like it. They felt it was a very thoughtful gift of hope. The volunteers have requested Caring Coins to share with their patients as a symbol of their connection with each other."

A nurse writes "I watched a grieving family take their elderly mother from the clinic to the hospital to be admitted for serious complications that could not be treated in the outpatient setting. As they were heading over to admissions, they passed the basket with the angel coins and took one for the mother. As they wheeled her away, she unwrapped the coin, read the message, then lifted the coin the her lips and kissed it. I don't mind telling you that my eyes filled up with tears..."

500 Caring Coins went to Tanzania with a Vermont Hospice worker who writes "…Heads bent with trust, the children received their coin necklaces and ran off to return moments later with more friends. Each stepped forward to receive their necklace of hope, and a familiar Swahili blessing "Ubarikiwe". The coins create an opportunity for genuine contact. They are a visual and tactile reminder that someone cares enough to step forward and share a simple token of love."

Caring Coins have been shared at Veterans Hospitals with recent returning wounded troops as well as to veterans in the hospitals. A Director of Volunteers writes “You can’t imagine the response we get to the Caring Coins both from the young patients as well as the older veterans. Tears come to their eyes as they receive the Caring Coins as a thank you for their service and sacrifices for our country. They even request Caring Coins to share with their families. These little wooden coins really do make a difference. Thank you.”

Caregivers embrace the spirit of caring and hope that the Caring Coins represent.

Community members sponsored Caring Coins for volunteers and their care recipients participating in a community volunteer program as a token of their connection with each other. The volunteers and the care recipients greatly appreciated the gifts of hope. An elderly care recipient remarked, "No one will ever know how much this coin means to me. God bless the person who gave this to me."

A caregiver writes "Just between you and me, I am so tired of this whole care giving thing. I just don't want to do it anymore. I have barely been able to get out of bed the last few days. Thank god for coffee and my Caring Coin! That's what's getting me through."

A daughter writes..."My father was given an angel coin as he was struggling with dementia. He insisted that we put the coin around his wrist and would not allow anyone to remove it even when he bathed. He called his angel coin his "Vermont power." It truly gave him great comfort. He made us promise that his angel coin would always remain with him."

"Today I was feeling a bit down and also a bit chilled so I put on my jacket and put my hands in the pocket and there was your little wooden medallion that you had sent me! It instantly made me smile and feel better, like a little angel telling me- See! You are never alone!"