PlastiScope21 - November-December 2015

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What is it About...The Spirit of Giving?
A Life of Volunteering…
Raising Funds for Community
Hospice Facility Hits Close to Home
By Steve Meyer (Accounting)
I t started in 2006. I heard about a project Joe Richardson II
was considering to build a hospice center in the Sheboy-
gan area. This idea hit close to home for me. I wanted to
join the effort because I had experienced the compassionate
care and support of in-home hospice care when my first wife,
Chrysa, became terminally ill from breast cancer at age 40.
In addition, my wife had gone through treatment with
some of my fellow Plenco employees, the late Lynn
Gunderson (Plant Manager) and the late Peter Bersch (Resin
Supervisor). This gave me added motivation to help with this
effort. The extended family here at Plenco had been a big
source of support for me and my family.
More people in the lakeshore area needed to have this
alternative when life-limiting illness occurred in their families,
I was convinced.
The Hospice Development Committee welcomed my
involvement to help raise funds to build the Sharon S.
Richardson Community Hospice facility. The outpouring of
support from the community was so heartwarming and
gratifying, I couldn’t put it into words.
In 2007, construction was completed and the facility opened.
In addition to attending committee meetings, I’ve manned a
booth at a motorcycle show in Manitowoc, sought sponsors for
events and even been a model in the “Fashion on the Lake”
event for the Hospice!
So what does the organization do? The Sharon S. Richard-
son Community Hospice provides hospice and palliative care
for individuals and their families wherever they call home.
“Home” could be in an assisted living facility, a nursing
home, a hospital and, of course, their own home. The in-home
program provides onsite services in all these locations, offering
a continuum of care, if needed, from the “home” when more
care is needed. Individuals come directly to the Hospice when
there is a lack of caregivers at home or an inability to care for
someone at home.
Most people don’t understand the full scope of hospice
or when it is appropriate. Hospice services include pain and
symptom management, communication and coordination with
physicians and other health care professionals, pharmaceuticals,
durable medical supplies, social worker services, and spiritual
and bereavement care. It’s not brink of death care; it’s for the
last six months of life for those with noncurable illnesses.
By far and away, the most frequent comment by families
served by the Hospice is “why didn’t we call sooner?” The
Hospice takes the anxiety and pressure off the caregivers/
family and allows them to make more “quality” memories with
their loved one. Instead of having to worry about keeping a
record of medications taken and sterilizing wounds, the family
can simply be with their loved one, making the most of their
time together.
My work with the Hospice has been very fulfilling. I invite
you to check out the Hospice web site at
and also to come out and see it.
This resource is open to all, and awareness of what they can
do for the individual and family could
become very important to you, your
friends and your co-workers at
some point in the future.
Top: Fellow Development Committee members
Steve Meyer & Eric Tetzlaff; Bottom: Sharon S.
Richardson Community Hospice.
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