Why We Support Hospice

by Ellen Gil of Sockshop and Shoe Company

Kelsey Wolf, Ricky Gutierrez, Ellen Gil - owner, Nathaniel Wallner, June Rose Guerra,
Eric Gil - owner, Hunter Gil - son, Lee Sylvia.

On November 1, we’ll host a First Friday event at our store, Sockshop and Shoe Company in Downtown Santa Cruz, from 5:30 PM to 8:30 PM. We’re sponsoring this activity to support Hospice of Santa Cruz County. There will be music, art, refreshments, and wine on Friday night.  A portion of all purchases made during the entire weekend will go to Hospice of Santa Cruz County. We’re donating some great shoes that will be raffled off as well. We think it’s important to support our community and Hospice is such a worthy organization, which makes sponsoring this event such a pleasure.

We hope the event makes people more aware of the compassionate care provided by Hospice of Santa Cruz County. In fact, we first became aware of hospice many years ago when we went to a local Jackson Browne concert. At the start of the concert he mentioned that his mom was a patient of Hospice of Santa Cruz County and said he was thankful for the care she received. I've also known people in this community who have been Hospice patients and I know that they got incredible support from the entire patient care team.

This will be our second benefit for Hospice at the store. The program got started more than a year ago with Kelly Short, who was working for Hospice, and knew my husband Eric Gil since high school. She thought the store would be a great venue for an event and asked Eric to sponsor the program. With Kelly’s help, along with other people from Hospice, we were able to create a memorable, festive activity at the store last year. Sadly Kelly was diagnosed with cancer shortly before last year’s event and she recently passed away. I will always remember her kindness, humor and enthusiasm. I am thankful that she and others at Hospice gave us this opportunity to demonstrate our support.

Last year’s event was magical, and this one will be as well. The event will support the programs made possible by the outstanding people at Hospice of Santa Cruz County who make such a difference in the lives of patients, their families, and their friends. These programs include grief support services, transitional care services, children’s bereavement programs, education and outreach, and hospice care for military veterans. The programs are entirely funded by community members and local foundations.  We hope you’ll join us in supporting this great organization.