Join your teammates and participate in the Centra Family Campaign!

Make a Gift via Credit Card      Make a gift via Payroll Deduction or PTO

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Or, mail in your pledge form in the brochure you received at home. Questions? Email Foundation@centrahealth.com. 

Employee                                 Physician

"As a member of the community I feel that giving to the Centra Family Campaign is so important because our neighbors, family and friends all deserve access to great quality healthcare - no matter what. A small piece from each of us can reach so many and change lives for the better.”

- Whitney Davis, Manager MSP Services & Clinical Outcomes, Lynchburg General Hospital

“I see the impact of the Centra Family Campaign as our caregivers come together as a team to support our Centra family and the community. The Helping Hands Program provides support in times of unexpected need. Centra caregivers continually step up to the plate!”

- Debbie Kernohan, MSN, NP-C, PACE-Farmville 

"I give for the greater good.”

- Judy Ward, RN, Virginia Baptist Hospital

Helping Hands program in action

Program promotes giving and receiving

March 2021

Words almost fail Bobby Stout, coordinator of Centra information technology, when he thinks about how much the support of his coworkers and Centra’s Helping Hands program have meant to him and his wife, Lisa.

Married in July of 2016, the couple found out two days after their wedding that Lisa had been diagnosed with colon cancer. The need for major, complicated surgeries meant Lisa needed the kind of care available only at specialized cancer centers outside the area.

“We spent our honeymoon and the past four years traveling to physicians and hospitals,” said Bobby. “After her cancer returned three years after her first surgery at Duke University Hospital, Lisa’s only option was treatment at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. She has been there since October, undergoing three 15-hour surgeries, radiation and chemotherapy and now rehabilitation. Because of COVID-19, I have only been able to be with her for three short times before and after surgery, but just knowing that I was in a hotel across the street meant the world to her. Without the support of my coworkers and Helping Hands, I don’t know how I would have managed the travel expenses.”

Centra’s Helping Hands program provides emergency assistance for Centra caregivers in times of acute, unexpected need.

“Helping Hands promotes both giving and receiving,” said Darren Miller, director of pastoral care for Centra. “The program is a meaningful opportunity for caregivers to support other caregivers. The behavior that the program encourages aligns with our just cause – partnering with you to live your best life.”

In 2020, the Centra Foundation saw a significant increase in designated gifts to Helping Hands in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Centra employees, as well as several community members, increased their giving to support Centra caregivers in need of assistance. Total contributions to Helping Hands for 2020 was $106,000, three times that of the $34,436 given in 2019.

Darren noted that Helping Hands funds supported caregivers who lost income because they ran out of personal time off days or lost the ability to work because of COVID-19.

When a significant need arises, the employee’s manager, director of pastoral care and chief people officer approve the collection of funds from fellow caregivers. The amount collected is then matched or doubled up to $2,500 with Helping Hands funding.

“Ten percent of unrestricted employee gifts to the Centra Foundation’s annual Centra Family Campaign go to the Helping Hands program,” said Darren. Employees also have the option to designate a greater percentage or the entirety of their gift to Helping Hands.

Darren noted that between 2016 and November 2020, 402 caregivers have benefitted from the program, with support totaling $539,701.

For Bobby and Lisa, now is a time for Lisa to heal. The extent of her surgeries after the cancer spread means that Lisa needs to learn to walk again. They visit via FaceTime and look forward to the day when she is well enough to come home.

“I want everyone to know how appreciative we are for the Helping Hands program,” he said. “Because the fund matched what my coworkers collected, I could see my wife both while she was at Duke University Hospital and again at the Mayo Clinic. There simply aren’t enough words to express our appreciation.”

“I hope people continue to support Helping Hands,” Bobby said. “You never know when there might be a family emergency and you could need this help. My wife was young and healthy until these medical issues occurred. As of November 23, she is cancer free. All she wants to do is walk, and we have faith that she will.”