DOWAGIAC — Those looking to stock up on Christmas goodies can find seasonal gifts, while supporting several charitable causes at the Ascension Borgess-Lee Memorial Hospital on Wednesday.

In the High Street Atrium entrance of Ascension Borgess-Lee Memorial Hospital, the Borgess-Lee Volunteers, a group with the mission to improve the health status in the community, will host its semi-annual Homemade, Handmade and Heartfelt Sale from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Wednesday.

Volunteers will be selling baked goods, holiday treats, crafts with a seasonal charm, stocking stuffers and festive decor to patrons.

“It’s kind of a ramped-up bake sale,” said Terri Moore, president of the Borgess-Lee Volunteers.

As the Borgess- Lee Volunteers prepare for the semi-annual Homemade, Handmade and Heartfelt Sale, they have received donations from community members, who help make the sale possible.

Annually, a volunteer donates about 75 hours of their time, Moore said. However, the hospital is flexible and works with people’s schedules. At her volunteer shift in the gift shop on Friday, Moore, who has been president for more than four years, was organizing quilts donated from an anonymous community member. 

At the sale will also be a raffle for a gingerbread house created by Ascension Borgess-Lee Memorial staff member Sally Swartz. The gingerbread house features individually wrapped candies and a winter wonderland theme. A raffle drawing for the gingerbread house will start at 2 p.m. The winner will not need to be present to win. Individual tickets cost $1 or six tickets can be purchased for $5. 

Proceeds from the Borgess-Lee Volunteers’ two semiannual sales, along with proceeds raised all year long at the hospital’s gift shop, are donated directly back to the hospital in the form of scholarships and a yearly gift donated to the hospital.

Last year, Borgess-Lee Volunteers used the money raised to gift the hospital with two wrist pulse oximeter’s valued at $2,000. Wrist pulse oximeters are a non-invasive method to measure heart rate and blood oxygen saturation at the wrist. In 2017, volunteers donated a mobile surgical bed valued at $3,000 and two wheelchairs valued at $1,000. The 2019 gift to the hospital has yet to be announced.

Earlier this year, Borgess-Lee Volunteers also awarded three scholarships worth $650 to three students looking to pursue educational opportunities in the medical field.

“As we have more money, we would do more scholarships,” Moore said.

The Borgess-Lee Volunteers will host a second semi-annual sale in the spring to raise more funds for scholarships and a donated gift to the hospital.

Moore said half of the money the volunteers raise comes out of the semiannual sales, while the other half is from gift shop proceeds.

The Borgess-Lee Volunteers are still looking for members of the community to join their mission and to volunteer in a variety of areas including at the gift shop. Readers looking for more information can call Borgess-Lee Volunteer Services (269) 783-3026 or email beth.cripe@ascension.org.

“Volunteers can come and offer support and attend monthly meetings, so they have say in where the money we raise goes,” Moore said.