Glenhaven Fundraising Committee raises $450,000 of $700,000 goal

By Kelsie Hoitomt

GLENWOOD CITY — In October, the Fundraising Committee at Glenhaven was presented with a challenge. The challenge was to raise $100,000 which would be matched by two anonymous donors.

The challenge was presented to the committee in October with the deadline Christmas Eve Day. From that point on, approximately $450,000 was raised towards Glenhaven’s goal.

The outpouring of support has made the end goal of $700,000 appear to be within reach, but there is still much work that needs to be done.

The fundraising committee hit the streets and the phone books to find donors, which led them to connections from all across the country.

Donors with ties to Glenwood City came forward with donations or pledges from Norway, Texas, Tennessee and Minnesota, to name a few.

When the challenge ended a couple weeks ago, one anonymous donor came forward; Glenwood City’s own Scott Teigen.

The Scott Teigen family along with the Kamm family, the Palewicz family and the Goossen family will each have their names attributed inside the new facility.

Two households will be named in memory of the Goossen and Teigen families, Sitting Area 15 will be named in memory of the Kamm family and the cafe is to named after the Palewiczs’.

Scott shared that he is glad to have reached a stage in his life where he is able to give back to the community in such a way and he will continue to honor his commitment to Glenhaven for years to come.

On the list of naming opportunities, the Board Room was reserved through a donation made by Laverne and Patricia Gust. The nursing home porch was reserved by Dan and Patty Draxler. And Sitting Areas 10 and 14 have been reserved by the Standaert Family.

Also, Royal Construction has attributed their name to the tavern after they donated $30,000. The tavern will be in the current nursing home facility after it is remodeled.

The fundraising committee has committed themselves to a 12 month long campaign that will end in October 2015.

Their goal is to raise the additional $250,000 in that time, but fundraising is truly a never ending project.

Prior to October, Glenhaven raised $113,000 from January 2014, after the fire occurred, until October when the challenge began. That money was factored into the total $450,000.

As of right now, the new Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Facility is coming along fantastically.

Inside all the sheet rocking is done and the walls are starting to be painted with a lovely color scheme of earth tones.

The metal trim around the doors and the wood beams on the ceiling match the paint as they are a dark cedar color. From the ceiling there now hangs light fixtures.

Not all of the lighting have been installed in the households, but B&B Electric has made great progress.

Stone Pro has also been inside working on finishing the fire places that are in each of the households.

Their work is quite neat as they are hand placing each small piece of stone in a pattern that makes up the entire exterior of each fireplace

The tile in the spa rooms and in the bathrooms is also being put in place. Within the week, the cabinet installation will start. Also in boxes waiting to be put in place are all the toilets as the plumbing is near completion.

On any given day, there are between seven and ten contractors inside the building working to complete the extensive project.

Glenhaven Administrator, David Prissel gives tours daily to families, businesses, individuals etc, so for the curious mind, an appointment can be made to view the future facility by calling Glenhaven itself.

There is also a waiting list that has been established for Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Facility. The residents of Glenhaven will be moved to that new addition and the extra rooms are what will be available on that waiting list.

Now with that $700,000 goal in sight, Fundraising Committee Co-chairs Dave and Joan Bartz and Tom and Nancy Stack as well as Honorary Co-chairs Orville and Louise Jeske can be contacted by anyone who wishes to donate or pledge.

They are encouraging others to either stop by and see them or call Glenhaven at 715-265-4555.