Swim-a-thon to benefit Mercy Hospice
By Sandy Louey - The Sacramento Bee - Thursday, March 27, 2008
SACRAMENTO - Mercy Hospice helped give Lisa McKenna's family the precious gift of time together during the last months of her life.
Now, her 17-year-old son, Kyle, wants to honor his mother's memory by organizing a swim-a-thon to raise money for and public awareness about Mercy Hospice.
Lisa McKenna lost her battle with pancreatic cancer on Dec. 2, 2004. She was 39.
Hospice care meant she spent the last four months of her life in her Churchill Downs home with her husband and two children, Kyle and Caitlin. Friends and family didn't have to worry about the constraints of the visiting hours of a hospital.
"I was glad the last couple of months we were able to have her here," Kyle said in an interview at his home recently.
Sunday's swim-a-thon from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. at California Family Fitness on Bond Road in Elk Grove is Kyle's senior class project. Kyle, a member of the swim team at Sheldon High, said he chose the swim-athon as the vehicle for his fundraiser for his class project because he thought it was something he was capable of carrying out.
Since his mother's death, the family has regularly participated in the Relay for Life event for the American Cancer Society. His father, David McKenna, and aunt Mollie McKenna also participated in Swim Across America, a 10-mile relay in the San Francisco Bay that raised money for the UCSF Children's Hospital's Cancer Survivorship Clinic.
Kyle said he knows his mother would appreciate why the family is involved in such fundraisers, since she was a person who put others first.
"She'll take care of everyone before herself," he said.
Kyle's father, David, said he hopes Sunday's event will help people understand that hospice care is an option for terminally ill patients and their families.
Jan Campbell, manager of Mercy Hospice, said she was touched when she heard about Kyle's fundraiser.
"We're grateful for his efforts," she said.
Mercy Hospice, based in Rancho Cordova, serves 80 to 85 patients a month, whether it is in their home, residential care facility or skilled nursing facility. Patients who have six months or less to live are eligible for hospice care, she said.
"People really want to be at home," Campbell said.
The goal is do whatever is needed to help the patient and their families with a range of services including nursing visits, spiritual care, caregiver relief, home health care aides and medical equipment. Campbell said donations to Mercy Hospice are used to provide services including caring for patients who are underinsured or uninsured, helping family members with funeral arrangements and bereavement support.
Donations can also be sent to Mercy Hospice, 3400 Data Drive, Rancho Cordova, CA 95670.
