Every ‘hero’ has a great origin story

[RRH Employee Giving “Gratitude Changes Everything” photo taken in 2016.]

PRESS RELEASE - Wednesday, September 16, 2021, RIDGECREST, Cali

Every hero has an origin story. And while the Ridgecrest Regional Hospital Foundation may not exactly qualify as a “hero,” the good it does, and the people who support the cause, are nothing short of heroic.

The Foundation began back in 2013, when a team of people wanted to find a way to give to the mission of the hospital. “It was a time when our community was growing, our hospital was growing, and everyone knew it was just time for the Foundation to be born, said Kim Metcalf, current executive director of RRHF.

In the beginning, Tamara Tilley stepped up to the challenge, and as the first executive director began putting together the structure of the organization, and coordinating contributions that augment the delivery of health care in our community.

From the beginning, Tilley was supported in this role by a board, hospital staff, volunteers, and members of our community who shared a commitment to the mission.

“There is a lot of focus on the Foundation today, but I have to remind people that it all started because Tamara did so much work to build the organization,” said Metcalf. “She put so much work in at the beginning to make sure that the organization was properly established and capable of making the impact we see today.”

The Development Foundation, as it was first known, received its first gift in January 2015. Today, the Foundation has raised more than $1 million. Some of the most notable achievements have been raising more than $430,000 for the first Hospice House – a building that provides a home-like atmosphere and clinical support services for people in need of palliative care. The Foundation also purchased a van to transport cancer patients, and pays the continuing costs of maintenance and operations. Mammography equipment, AED machines, and numerous other purchases that improve patient services have also been provided by the Foundation.

Find out more about the mission of the RRH Foundation, and how YOU can be a part of it, in this continuing series on our Foundation!

For more information call Metcalf at 760-499-3955, email Kimberly.Metcalf@rrh.org or visit RRH.ORG/FOUNDATION.