Local donor to match up $10,000 for the Chelan Valley Community Nurse program

CHELAN – A local anonymous donor has offered to match up to $10,000 in donations pledged from the beginning of the year up to March 31 as the Chelan Valley Community Nurse program continues with fundraising efforts.

Earlier last week, CVCN  nurses Suzie Zimmer and Michelle Jerome received the news, “that’s really exciting to us because that could mean $20,000 for us,” said Jerome. So far, they have received $4,500 towards their goal of  $32,000 to maintain a part-time nurse, plus other expenses.

Jerome has been focusing a lot of her time on fundraising since now Zimmer is doing visits on her own. “It’s been kind of nice for me to freed up for me to write grants,” she said. Jerome is working on different ideas to help the program self-sustain.

“We really trying to get some funding to expand so we can do an outreach project for the Hispanic community,” said Jerome. An additional $20,000 would be needed on top of the $32,000 to proceed with the new project she explained.  “The Hispanic community is 40 percent of this valley and our numbers in the caseload do not reflect 40 percent at all, we really want to start getting out, but that’s going to involve another person who contracts with us and helps out,” Jerome added.

Lake Chelan Rotatory, Lions Club, Kiwanis, Lake Chelan Community Services Council and the Lake Chelan Health and Wellness Foundation all have been contributors to the program. “They are very supportive of us and they are very open to our requests,” said Jerome. They have all made donations and some even more than once.  Jerome will be moving away from Chelan in April and “having a pocket to leave behind it’s a nice way to turn it over.”

There are three ways to donate to the Chelan Valley Community Nurse program:
1. Lake Chelan Lutheran Church, PO Box 1058, Chelan, WA 98816 (put “Nurse” in memo line).
2. Chelan Valley Community Nurse Facebook Page
3. North Cascades Bank into the Chelan Valley Community Nurse account

Zimmer working on certification:
At the moment Chelan Valley Community Nurse Suzie Zimmer is working towards getting her Faith Community Nursing Certification. The eight week course is based in the recognition that health has to do with body, mind and the spirit. “It’s an expansion of the way you look at nursing,” explained Michelle Jerome. The Lake Chelan Community Services Council paid the cost of the course for Zimmer, who at the end of the eight weeks will be certified.

CVCN logo contest:
The Chelan Valley Community Nurse program is currently in the process of selecting a logo for the program. A CVCN board member came up with an idea to have the Chelan High School art department and the School of Innovation participate in a logo contest. One lucky winner will receive $100 and her/his logo will be used by CVCN. “We are excited about the idea because it makes the kids aware of what we are doing and it gets them involved,” said Chelan Valley Community Nurse Michelle Jerome.