The launch of the Circle of Life Hospice Foundation was announced today at an event held at Circle of Life’s headquarters in Springdale. The launch event was the culmination of two years of work to establish the Foundation, create a Legacy Society, and build an initial endowment of $1 million.

Euva Phillips, chair of the Circle of Life board of directors, introduced the Foundation board members, including John Lea (chair), Steve Mitchael (vice chair), Jim Blount (secretary/treasurer), Ginger Graham, Sarah Kendall, Mary McKinney, Mike Moss and Todd Whatley.

John Lea, chair of the Circle of Life Hospice Foundation board of directors, spoke about the importance of building endowment support for the buildings and programs and introduced members of the Legacy Society, individuals who have established planned gifts to benefit Circle of Life and the Foundation. Planned gifts received by Circle of Life Hospice Foundation will be placed into the building and program endowments.

Ginger Howard Graham, board member and daughter of Earlene Howard (for whom the Earlene Howard Hospice Home is named) spoke about her mother’s vision for an inpatient hospice home and her own commitment to ensuring the future of the facility through a building maintenance endowment.

Patrick and Meredith Woodruff of the Miller McNeil Woodruff Foundation presented a donation of $25,000 to the Foundation in recognition of the care that their son Miller received from Circle of Life before he died in 2011 at three months of age.

Lea then announced that the gifts from Ginger Graham and the Woodruff Foundation allowed the Foundation to meet the 2013 portion of a $500,000 challenge grant from the Willard and Pat Walker Charitable Foundation. These funds will be used to establish the Pat Walker Building Maintenance Endowment for the Earlene Howard Hospice Home in Springdale.

In closing, Lea announced that the Circle of Life Hospice had now reached more than $1 million in assets and thanked the hundreds of people who have made that possible.