Billings, Montana, April 4, 2008 – Telling your story using past experiences to mentor children.
That is what the St. Vincent Healthcare Foster Grandparents do and have done for the last 37 years. Friday, April 4th at the Billings Hotel and Convention Center from 10:30am – 1:00pm, the St. Vincent Healthcare Foster Grandparent Program will celebrate their years of service throughout Billings and Eastern Montana.
59 SVH Foster Grandparents will be honored with years of service awards. Two Foster Grandparents, Molly Mangold and Philomene Hawley, will be honored for more than 20 years of service, and two other Foster Grandparents, Adeline Eadus and Almira Gossett, will receive the Presidents Lifetime Achievement Award for volunteer service. (Adeline’s award will be accepted posthumously by a member of her family. Adeline passed away a few weeks ago.)
A tribal council member from the Ft. Belknap Indian Reservation will be at the event to accept a plaque from the program to honor the on-going partnership our program has with the reservation. Foster Grandparents from the area will be bussed down for the event by the Ft. Belknap Head Start. All of St. Vincent Healthcare’s Foster Grandparents from the Ft. Belknap Indian Reservation have come from one family. It is truly a family tradition.
A flag has been ordered to fly over the Federal Capital Building on this day in honor of our St. Vincent Healthcare Foster Grandparent volunteers.
This year’s theme is “Telling Your Story- Remembering Your Past”. Foster Grandparents have been encouraged throughout the year to use their experiences and talents when mentoring children.
Note: April is National Volunteer Month
This program is federally funded through a grant from The Corporation for National and Community Service.