PALM BEACH,
Fla.
(January 5,
2011) —
The Palm
Beach
Membership
of the
Hospice
Foundation
of Palm
Beach County
has
announced
Lynn Homes
and
Sharon
O’Neil
will chair
Hospice
Evening
2011. The
elegant
evening of
dinner and
dancing will
take place
Friday,
January 14
at The
Breakers in Palm Beach. This year’s event will open with a
fashion show
featuring
Giambattista
Valli’s
Spring-Summer
2011
collection,
presented by
Saks Fifth
Avenue
Palm Beach.
All proceeds
from Hospice
Evening
support the
services of
Hospice of
Palm Beach
County,
which
provides
expert
medical,
emotional
and
spiritual
care for
individuals
with a
life-limiting
illness and
their loved
ones.
In addition
to being
active with
the Palm
Beach
Membership, Chairman Lynn
Homes was involved with the
Arthritis
Foundation
and The John
Hopkins
Hospital,
where she
served under
Dr. Ben
Carson,
known around
the world
for
separating
Siamese
twins
enjoined at
the head.
Inspired
by
her work
there, Homes
then
volunteered
her time
through
Hunt’s Memorial United Methodist Church, counseling students and
encouraging
them to work
for the
Children’s
Miracle
Network of
Johns
Hopkins. She
also acted
as vice
president
for the
Baltimore-based
cultural
arts group,
Diversions,
Inc.,
and escorted
members all
over the
world
providing
sophisticated
private
events for
more than
20
years.
“Anything
I can do to
advance the
critical
work
Hospice
provides
is an
honor,”
said Homes.
“The
support and
care
they give to
patients
and
their families,
and
what they do
to add to
the quality
of life and
our
community
is something
I want to
support.
Personally,
I
get a great
deal of
comfort
knowing that
the
quality of
services
Hospice
would
provide
to my
family
members
and friends,
should they
ever
require
that level
of care.
Most
important of
all, these
services are
available to
the whole
community
through the
support of
events like
Hospice
Evening.
I
want
to do
everything I
can to help
support the
mission.”
Before
accepting
the role of
chairman of
Hospice
Evening,
Sharon
O’Neil had
already
devoted much
of her life
to working
with
Hospice. As
a certified
hospice
and
palliative
nurse, she
was part of
the
examination
committee
for the
National
Board of
Certified
Hospice and
Palliative
Nurses, and
acted as
clinical
education
coordinator
and ethics
committee
member at
Hospice of
Palm Beach
County.
O’Neil also
served on
the board of
directors at
Jewish
Family and
Children’s
services,
and was a
Palm Beach
Heart Ball
chairman for
the American
Heart
Association
and
co-chairman
of the
American
Friends of
Magen David
Adom’s
Palm Beach
gala, among
other
volunteer
positions.
“The
end-of-life
support I
witnessed
while
working
with Hospice of
Palm Beach
County left
an indelible
mark on me,”
O’Neil said.
“It’s
difficult to
describe my
experiences
as a Hospice
nurse
because it
is a team of
caregivers
that provide
physical,
psychological
and
spiritual
care for
patients and
families. It
is not an
easy job and
I’m often
asked how I
could do it.
The answer
is clear. My
patients
taught me so
much that it
was a
privilege to
care for
them and to
be part of
the Hospice
team. Now,
with the
ever-changing
health care
system, the
money we
raise at
Hospice
Evening 2011
will help
ensure that
Hospice of
Palm Beach
County will
continue its
excellent
care for
those in the
final stages
of living.”
Hospice
Evening is
the
foundation’s
signature
event and
has served
as a
cornerstone
of the
Palm Beach
social
calendar for
more than
two decades.
This year’s
elegant
evening will
take on a
Parisian
twist with
the theme,
An
American in
Paris,
and honor
neurologist
and
palliative
medicine
specialist,
Gail
Austin
Cooney,
M.D.,
for her
significant
contributions
to Hospice
of Palm
Beach
County.
Honorary
chairs are
Ann
Heathwood
and
Patricia
Griffith,
with junior
committee
chairs
Wyatt Koch,
Jebb
McCracken,
Jack
Cooney
and Heidi
Braxton.
Saks Fifth
Avenue Palm
Beach has
hosted the
fashion
runway since
the gala’s
inception
and has
featured
many
internationally
acclaimed
designers
such as Bob
Mackie,
Carolina
Herrara,
Geoffery
Beene, Vera
Wang,
Badgley
Mischka,
Arnold
Scaasi, Bill
Blass, Naeem
Khan and
most
recently
Oscar de la
Renta.
For more
information
or to
reserve
tickets,
please
contact the
Palm Beach
Membership
of the
Hospice
Foundation
of Palm
Beach County
at (561)
832-8585.