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Community Gifts

The Rathgeber Hospitality House would not be as successful as it is if it were not for the many individuals and groups that support the House on a regular basis.  We are fortunate to have community support from not only Wichita Falls but from many of the outlying areas that we serve. Here are just a few of our many generous donors.

 

The Women’s Mission group of Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Olney, Texas, chose Rathgeber Hospitality House as the recipient of a large supply of household items collected during their April meeting. Carla Inge, President of the Women’s group, made the delivery to our House on April 13 – a lucky day for us!

 

Thanks to each and every one of you for your generous, caring hearts. Your donations will be a blessing to our guest families for weeks to come!

We are so grateful to those who think to support our House with the donation of gently used jigsaw puzzles, as they provide a welcome past-time break for our guest families.

Such was the case for Juanita Cole, from Hollis, Oklahoma, and Diane Cockrell, from Decatur, Texas, who were both at Rathgeber Hospitality House in early April while their husbands received care at United Regional.

Juanita Cole (left) and Diane Cockrell unwind over a good jigsaw!

 

 

Early April brought the smiling faces of Pastor David Odom and his wife, Kathy, who delivered a most generous selection of household items, all collected and donated by the congregation of First Baptist Church of Jolly.

 

This caring congregation selects a different non-profit organization to support with their donations each and every three months, and Rathgeber Hospitality House was blessed to be their charitable organization of choice for this quarter!

 

The congregation has had members stay at Rathgeber over the years, and knew exactly what we needed simply by checking our online WISH LIST. Thank you for remembering us and our guest families in their time of need!

 

 

 

 

Three-year-old Te’a Reese (she’s the one in pink!) and her big brother, Lexston, made a surprise delivery of paper goods and other good stuff to our House on March 19…in celebration of Te’a’s third birthday! Both Te’a and Lexston are a bit young to be driving, so super-Mom, Tanna Reese, played chauffeur for the trip down from their home town of Quanah, Texas. Thank you, Tanna, Lexston, and Miss Te’a!

The first week of March brought Veronica Baca, of Crowell, Texas, to our House for the very first time. When she returned in mid-March for another brief stay, she entered our doors bringing not only her beautiful smile, but also an abundant supply of items from our Wish List. These items will surely help brighten the lives of many of our guests for weeks to come. Thank you, Veronica, for being a shining example of the heart of Rathgeber … our wonderful guests!

Our friends from Christ United Presbyterian Church in Wichita Falls remembered our guests again in March, donating a guest “goody bag” for each of our rooms. These bags are filled with all sorts of goodies (thus the name!) such as bottled water, gum, and snack foods. Needless to say, these bags are real favorites of guests who are spending long hours in waiting rooms or patient rooms at the hospital. Thank you, Christ United, for your thoughtful generosity!

The District 15 Ladies Auxiliary VFW once again included RHH in their annual projects by delivery of many household items that we use on a regular basis.

 

We are very grateful to our entire community that continues to support us.

 

 

Members of First Presbyterian Church of Wichita Falls frequently donate altar arrangements to our House following their Sunday services, and each one adds beauty for our guests to enjoy. The arrangement we received the weekend before Valentine’s Day was extra special to us, though, for two important reasons: they were sent our way at the direction of ex-Board member and long-time friend, Mrs. Robbie Jeter. and, the arrangement itself was filled with beautiful red roses, which made perfect bedside vases for our families to take to their loved ones for the Valentine’s Day holiday.

 

Thank you, Robbie, and all our friends at First Presbyterian, for remembering our House and guest families!

Longtime Rathgeber volunteer Angela Boyd is surrounded with bedside vases she made from the large floral arrangment donated to our House by Robbie Jeter and First Presbyterian Church. 

Families staying at Rathgeber House will be invited to take a vase to their loved one for Valentine’s Day!

This beautiful hydrangea served as centerpiece of a lovely floral arrangement donated to our House in early February by Darren and Dana Kirkpatrick in loving memory of their son, Tanner.

 

While our good friends Polly Tate and Bob Weaver were camera shy, we couldn’t resist capturing a quick picture of their very generous donation to our House the end of January.

Thank you, Polly and Bob, for your continued support of our House and guest families!

January 28th brought this color – filled floral arrangements to our House from our good friends at First Presbyterian Church in Wichita Falls.

 

Our volunteers took advantage of the rich, blue colors in this arrangement to make a number of perfectly-sized bud vases which proved especially popular with guests who had loved-ones of the male gender in the hospital!

The ladies of First Baptist Church of Holliday Women on Mission group chose Rathgeber Hospitality House as one of their annual mision projects, gathering a cart full of much needed supplies for our House.

Wanda Pfnister and Don Ruth braved a cold, cold day in mid-January to make the group’s special delivery to our front door. We appreciate your generosity and thoughtfulness!

 

 

Mid-January brought our good friends from Jan Lee Baptist Church in Burkburnett, Texas with another delicious meal for our guest families.

 

 

Words cannot express our gratitude for the smiles, words of encouragement, and prayers that these caring church members bring to our guests every month.

We felt so honored that the young leaders from the Builders Club of Graham Junior High School presented Rathgeber Hospitality House with a gift of much needed WISH LIST items on January 11.

The Builders Club is a youth organization sponsored by the Kiwanis Club of Graham, Texas. We so appreciate the Kiwanis developing a desire for community service within our youth!

A Christmas day luncheon buffet, made possible through the generous donations of our supporters, offered guests staying at Rathgeber Hospitality House over the holiday a chance to visit with each other, unwind just a bit, and fill up on good food!

 

 

 

December donations are always a joy for us here at Rathgeber Hospitality House, but we must admit our smiles get extra big when a donor is as sweet as this young lady from Bowie, Texas!

 

This little Miss came in with her Mom to donate a case of noodle soups to our House. When we offered her a choice of our last two hand-made bookmarks (lovingly made and donated to us by Marian Thompson earlier in the year), she naturally picked the  angel named “Grace” — as that is her middle name!

 

 

Mitizi Brotherton, Past President of the Rathgeber Board of Directors, represented our House at the 2017 Alternative Gift Market at First United Methodist Church in Wichita Falls.

 

Each year this event brings new friends and donors to our House, and we appreciate being asked to participate again this year!

 

 

 

United Regional cardiac nurse Dee Dee Pennington and her girls paid a visit to our House on November 29, bringing a special donation with an even more special message: care for your heart.

 

The donation was made in loving memory of Dee Dee’s younger brother, Charlie Logan, who died in 2004 at age 27 from heart disease.

 

Rathgeber is one of 13 acts of charity Dee Dee and her girls were doing on November 29, the 13th anniversary of Charlie’s passing.

 

Thank you, Dee Dee and girls. We are honored to be included in your acts of kindness and charity.

Dee Dee Pennington with (l-r) Chyree, Ava, and Kenedee with their memorial gift.

 

The end of November brought Linda Kent to our door with a rolling basket full of personal hygiene and coffee bar supplies, collected and donated by the members of Eagles Lodge 4128.

 

While Linda has never stayed at Rathgeber, she is a strong believer in our Mission and has headed up the Eagles Lodge collection for several years.

 

Thank you, Linda and fellow Lodge members!

 

 

This is the sweet note that accompanied both “knit-with-love” lap quilts given to Rathgeber guests in November 2017.

The “Knit Together Sisterhood of Multidenominational Women of Faith” is a group of talented, caring ladies from the Bowie, Texas, area who became aware of our House after one of their members, Janet Barlow, stayed with us nearly a year ago in support of a family member receiving care at United Regional.

Rathgeber Hospitality House guests Michelle Smith, from Graham, Texas, (above) and Demetra Lewis, from Vernon, Texas, (below, with newborn son and proud father, Victor) were the happy recipients of the two hand-knit throws donated by “Knit Together Sisters“.

Just as cold North winds blew into Wichita Falls on November 18, supporting friends from Jacksboro, Texas, brought us an armful of light-weight, yet toasty warm, lap throws to help our guest families face the late-fall chill.

 

Wishing their donation to be anonymous, these friends said it was their “small way of paying forward” the kindness they had been shown during their past medical stay at United Regional and Rathgeber Hospitality House.

 

 

November 14th had our friends from Jan Lee Baptist Church in Burkburnett, Texas, bringing another one of their wonderful dinner meals for our guest families to enjoy.

 

This month’s dinner menu included tacos, taco soup, cornbread, and a table full of delicious desserts … including the ever-popular banana pudding!

 

The congregation of Jan Lee Baptist has supported this monthly mission meal to our guest families for more than nine consecutive years.  Thank you, our dear Burkburnett friends, for blessing our House and guests month after month.

 

 

 

 

 

The holidays are fast approaching, and our very own “elves” are hard at work helping prepare the Rathgeber Christmas card mailing.

 

Our thanks to Angela, Virginia, Ruth, and Jean for their hard work and dedication to our Mission!

Pictured are Rathgeber Hospitality House volunteers Angela Boyd (above, left), Virginia Hendricks (above, right) and Ruth Rathgeber (below, left) and Jean Snow (below, right).

Many thanks to our long-time (but camera shy!) friends, Mary Ann and Billy Huse, of Chillicothe, Texas, for helping restock many of the Wish List items we need to keep our House warm and welcoming for families in need.

The Huse donation included 16 oz plastic cups, Scrubbing Bubbles bathroom cleaner, paper towels, coffee, and a guest favorite… peanut butter!

Our friends from Texoma Association of Health Underwriters remembered us again this fall with a very generous gift of items from our Wish List.

 

Thank you for helping us continue our Mission to be there for families facing medical crisis!

Pictured, L-R:

Kim Tomlinson, Executive Director,

with TAHU members

Isha Brooks, Raychel Moore, and Judy Wade.

Our volunteers quickly “recommissioned” the shades of green floral arrangement brought to us by our friends at the Church of the Good Shepherd into perfectly sized bedside arrangements our guests could take to their family members in the hospital.

Thank you, our Good Shepherd friends, for keeping our guests in your hearts.

Our friends at First Presbyterian Church in Wichita Falls sure know how to brighten our lobby area … and the faces of our guests! Thank you so much for bringing us this gorgeous summertime floral display.

In July, long-time friends of our House, the Altrusa Club International, blessed us once again with a generous donation of books for our Guest Library.

 

Staff and Altrusa members display a few of the books the organization donated to Rathgeber Hospitality House.

(L-R) Kim Tomlinson, Executive Director, and Michelle Gann, House Manager, stand with Altrusa members Asma Javed and Amber Meador. 

May 31st brought Mrs. Marian Thompson to our door, looking for an opportunity to brighten the lives of our guests. Marian mentioned her custom made embroidered bookmarks, and offered to make a selection for us to place in our guest rooms.

 

On June 8th Marian returned with a beginning selection, all of which will add another caring touch to each room in our House.

 

Thank you, Marian, for thinking of our guest families!

May 24th brought a wonderful gift from former House guest, Chris Southerland, to help up update our guest services.

 

Enclosed with the gift was the following note from Chris:

“Hello, Rathgeber House, 

We appreciate you and your wonderful team. You are a true gift to the community. The comfort and convenience that you provide truly set you apart. We are truly thankful.”

 

We are thankful for thoughtful supporters like you, Chris!

House Manager Donna Bates showcases a gift of four USB-port Alarm Clocks donated to us through Amazon by former house guest Chris Southerland.

The month of May ended with a phone call from Jennifer Briley, General Manager of the Hampton Inn in Wichita Falls. Jennifer asked if we ever took donations … and before she could finish her sentence, we said “YES!”

Later that same day Jennifer pulled up to our front door with a donation of two large boxes of hotel toiletries that could no longer be used in their hotel due to a change in branding, and two cases of facial tissue in the wrong size box for use in their guest rooms.

Thank you, Jennifer and Hampton Inn, for thinking of our House and the guest families we serve!

For the third year in a row, members of First United Methodist Church Wichita Falls made Rathgeber Hospitality House a recipient of volunteer hours as part of the church’s annual Be The Church event.

 

This year, church volunteers prepared 200 Survival Kit bags and 400 reusable tote bags, both of which are placed in our guest rooms to welcome incoming families.

 

They also folded 2,000 return envelopes, which will be inserted in our July newsletter.

 

Thank you, our “First” family, for your ongoing support!