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Glades Charity gives to Hospital Foundation
By Jose Jesus Zaragoza
Clewiston News
 The Howard E. Hill Foundation in Belle Glade recently awarded the Hendry Regional Medical Hospital Foundation $100,000 to go toward the construction of a new emergency room. The foundation in Belle Glade, named after one of Belle Glade’s better known residents “Doc” Hill, was gratefully accepted by the Clewiston hospital. According to Glenda Wilson, with the hospital’s foundation director, all it took was a letter, and a little luck, to secure the funding. “I heard they were disseminating funds to non-profit organizations in Hendry County and Palm Beach, and I sent them a letter about our mission,” said Ms. Wilson. The surprised letter-writer was glad to hear back from the Hill Foundation.
The hospital foundation was hoping it could secure any funding at all. The money could help the foundation get closer to its goal of helping the hospital to construct a new emergency room, she thought. When Barbara Alston, the president of the Howard E. Hill Foundation, and Jennifer Mailman, Doc Hill’s granddaughter, told Ms. Wilson exactly how much they were contributing, she was floored. “I was just ecstatic when I got out of there,” said Ms. Wilson, who hoped that the charitable contribution would be $10,000.
Although there is no strict timetable on the construction of the new emergency room, the hospital has selected an architect, project manager and construction manager for the expansion project. The group is busy drawing up designs, before hospital administrators expect to break ground sometime in the Fall. According to Ms. Wilson, the expansion is expected to cost approximately $12 million. The hospital foundation, whose main objective is in raising funds to help Hendry Regional Medical Center, has itself pledged at least $2 million toward the cost of the emergency room, while foundation members have established a loftier goal of raising $4 million. “It is going to become a reality,” said Ms. Wilson.
The Howard E. Hill Foundation was established in memory of Doc Hill, who started his career as a veterinarian, before branching out as a private lender and purchasing properties in the Glades. Ms. Wilson knew him personally, and describes him as having been a “man of many trades.”
News Editor Jose Zargoza can be reached at
jzaragoza@newszap.com. |
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