On Friday I had the privilege of visiting the American Cancer Society AstraZeneca Hope Lodge. The Hope Lodge is this year's recipient of the Joy of Giving Charity Event taking place in only 2 short weeks on Saturday Nov 16th from 6 to 9 pm at BellaNor Boutique (7117 Germantown Ave Philadelphia, PA 19119). The charity event is a product drive for items from the Hope Lodge's wish list. This is a free event. Cost of admission is your donation. Your donation entitles you to refreshments, after hours shopping, and entry into the raffles and giveaways. I hope to see many of you there.
When the Hope Lodge staff invited me to tour the facility I was a little nervous. I was worried that I would find the atmosphere depressing. I could not have been more wrong. The Hope Lodge provides free housing for Cancer Patients receiving treatment in the Philadelphia Area. The design of the facility and the efforts of the staff make the Hope Lodge a Home away from home. The facilities are bright and cheerful complete with artwork on the walls and beautiful grounds. There was nothing at all depressing about the Hope Lodge. As a matter of fact after visiting the facility I feel even more proud to have the Lodge as this year's recipient charity.
Since you could not be there with me join me now on a virtual tour of the Hope Lodge.
The Hope Lodge has 3 great rooms. The great rooms are big living rooms. There is one on each floor. There are all well lit and decorated for the holidays (in this case Halloween). They all have comfortable furniture, TVs, room for reading, socializing, and board games. Some of the great rooms have Wii and Playstation video games. One even had a piano!
There are 37 guest rooms at the Hope Lodge. All of the guest rooms are identical. This is done on purpose so that if a patient returns to the Lodge for multiple stays they will feel familiar with their surroundings no matter which room they are in. Each room has 2 beds, a desk, and a flat screen tv. The rooms also include blackout shutter to make catching afternoon zzzzz’s a little easier. The guest rooms have 2 beds because each guest of the Hope Lodge must have their own caregiver who will be their roommate.
Each guest at the Hope Lodge has their own bathroom to share with their care givers. The bathrooms are all ADA compliant including hand rails. The showers have adjustable height shower heads and a seat that can be pulled down to shower.
The hope lodge provides amenities to help both the guests and their caregiver have as pleasant an experience as possible they have amenities that I don’t even have in my own home. There is a laundry room with multiple machines and ironing board. The weight room has both free weights and Cardio machines. The weight room is more often used by care givers. Exercise is a great stress reliever. The library is fully stocked with fiction and non –fiction books. There is even a meditation room to use for prayer or quiet reflection.
Of course being a blogger I was excited to hear that the
Lodge has wifi and that there are two computer terminals that guests can use if they don’t have their own laptop.
The grounds of the Hope Lodge are beautiful. Especially this time of year when the leaves are changing.. Guests can enjoy the outdoor grounds and patio . The Hope Lodge has really made an effort to think of everything guests may need. This includes a special shade room that allows guests who’s cancer treatments restrict exposure to sunlight t to still enjoy being out side.
Nothing makes you feel at home like a home cooked meal. The Hope Lodge makes home cooking possible by
providing several kitchens available.
Each kitchen includes a stove, oven, microwave, crock pot, and toaster or toaster. Pots, pans, and dishes are provided. Guests need only bring their own food which
can be stored in their own assigned refrigerator, freezer, and cupboard
spaces.
Home cooked meals can be enjoyed in the Hope Lodge dining room which seats 64 people. In the dining room guest can also find tea, coffee, and filtered water at the coffee bar as well as free meal replacement drinks courtesy of ensure.
Throughout the facility there are small placards and bigger displays acknowledging those who have donated to the Hope Lodge. There are also lots of paintings by Richard Bollinger hanging on the walls adding to the Lodge’s ambiance.
The last stop on our virtual tour is the stock room. These rooms of of the utmost to us. These are the rooms that store the items that we will be collecting as part of the Joy of Giving Charity event. Donations of these very practical and inexpensive items keep the hope lodge going. Donations of paper products, linens, toothpaste, and detergent allow the Hope Lodge to focus its resources on maintaining the facility, paying the gas bill, electric bill and all the other bills that come with running this great facility. This is the room where your donation will reside until it is put to use The director stated the items needed most right now are High Efficiency detergent, Bleach, Toilet papper, papper towels, and dryer sheets. While any item from the Hope Lodge’s wish list will be accepted these are the items that get used most frequently and are needed most.
Will you be attending our joy of giving event on Nov 16th?
Which item from the which list are you planning to donate? What part of our virtual tour impressed you
the most? I really liked the shade room
and the gym. They show that the Lodge has thought of everything. Are you familiar with the AstraZeneca Hope
Lodge in Philly or any of the other 31 Hope Lodges located throughout the country?
