Consider this Final Appeal as a Truly Worthwhile Opportunit

December 31st is the end of the year. Only 4 more days.  While many will have donated to a charitable activity before Christmas Day, some of you who are friends of IHS  may want to take advantage of this final chance to receive a charitable tax deduction to assist  the indigent and severely underfunded who must come to Charlottesville to the UVA Medical Center for treatment.   Remember - your donation allows us to respond 24/7 to UVA Social Workers who call for assistance with lodging, food, prescriptions, co-pays or infant car seats for the UVA Pediatric Clinics when no other agency or organization is available as that final safety net. It's your chance to do good. Consider one of two methods for your donation. (1) Write a check to IHS and send it by regular mail to: IHS P.O. Box 163 Palmyra, VA 22963 Make a copy to retain for your IRS tax filing as a charitable donation for 2016. (2) Or donate by accessing the DONATE BUTTON at the end of this short reminder. In closing for these final days of 2016, thank you for whatever you can do to secure our efforts to sustain these vital physical needs for the least able among us.  Please know that no one in this public charity is paid. The largest private donations of time and funding still comes from the founding members; however, it is simply not enough to sustain a growing need. If it were not so, then I promise we would not ask for your assistance. Also remember - for transparency we hold the "Gold Seal of Approval" from the Guidestar.org national clearing house. Please do what you can. And, if you would like to donate now to our cause, please click the button below to go to our encrypted secure on-line donation form.    From all of us to all of you, T. Wade, Sam ... and remembering Elisheva IHS Founding Members

While Considering Your Giving This Holiday ...

It's important that you know that this public charity is on duty every day and night during the holidays and accessible by all University of Virginia Social Workers for immediate temporary assistance for their long distance, underfunded and unexpected patients or family members. Here are a few examples of why there MUST  be one resource as a final lifeline Case #1: Patient is in quickly diminishing status.  Patient has five children and they arrive at hospital with their aunts and are able to visit at a critical time.  Seven people with limited funds and a desperate need for a hotel room, and food for their overnight stay. The hotel is secured within ten minutes and Social Worker removes enough full-day meal packets from the Social Work cabinet for the family to take with them to the hotel. IHS was the only alternative for a family facing a dramatic situation. Case #2: Social Worker calls at end of day, and begins by saying, "I'm not sure if you can help, and I am getting ahead of the possible need for a hotel room, but I have a couple who is experiencing the shock of just losing their nine year old child, and they live a long way off.I think they need to have a room alone before returning home, although they may feel a necessity to drive home and personally bring comfort to the other family members." The hotel room was secured immediately and the front desk was told to hold the room for IHS and if the couple did not decide to stay, IHS would call and if necessary, simply pay for the room even if not occupied.  The loss of a child brings such a debilitating shock to parents there must not be a hesitation when IHS can allow for a comfort zone following a death. Case #3: Patient is being released in next hour, and the ECCCC (Emily Courick Clinical Cancer Center) Pharmacy closes soon. Patient needs a prescription and the family does not have insurance. Patient has not been working due to the condition, and the spouse is seeking to work two jobs to keep their finances afloat. Social Worker says, "I haven't had time to seek to collect or secure funds for the prescription and it is needed. Can you assist?   This is not a co-pay; it is an expensive prescription and I've never asked for this much; but, I have to try to help them." The prescription was projected as $360.00. IHS made the call and paid for the prescription in time for the patient to pick it up within the hour. These cases are examples of why Rev. Elisheva  Clegg came home in 2008 after a long night as the volunteer chaplain at UVA Medical Center and posed an important question. She saved the tears for home. She really did ask me, "What are we doing for the rest of our lives?"  I remember playfully answering that I had a feeling that she was about to tell me. That day set in motion an opportunity for this charity, and one more lifeline was begun. That was eight years ago. As most of you know, Elisheva' died on April 6 this year in UVA Hospital. She understood pain as a daily challenge, and was involved in a series of operations as 2016 began  On April 5 before I called for an ambulance for an unexpected pain in her side, she had been listing local churches to visit to become friends of the charity, and allow her to personally speak and offer examples of how their donations were so prominent. Please remember that all of us at IHS are non-paid volunteers, and we are all donating what we can to IHS personally. Also remember - for transparency we hold the "Gold Seal of Approval" from the Guidestar.org national clearing house. Please do what you can. And, if you would like to donate now to our cause or in memory of Elisheva during the holiday season, please click the button below to go to our encrypted secure on-line donation form.     Elisheva would be smiling about our continued responsiveness and so thankful for those who continue to remember and honor her personal devotion to this never-ending opportunity.  For her, myself and Sam, and the individuals who are constant supporters. ... Thank you as we press on into another year.  Love ...  T. Wade Clegg III  and Sam McLawhorn

Tabletop Display last Friday in UVA Medical Center's Main Lobby

Attention Charlottesville UVA Health System Employees The Commonwealth of Virginia Campaign (CVC) is in full swing.  IHS is the totally independent, All-volunteer, non-religious, 501(c)3 public charity  invited to highlight and raise awareness for healthcare workers this past Friday, November 11, 2016, from 2:30 - 4:30 PM in the Dining Conference Room which is located near the information desk in the main lobby.  Simply check with the Information desk to point out the exact location. That rare opportunity annually for IHS to say Hello to Hospital Staff! Since June 2009 Interfaith Humanitarian Sanctum (IHS) has been serving indigent and underfunded UVA  patients and their caregivers  who must travel considerable distances for treatment at the UVA Medical Center. IHS is that silent charity on call 24/7  which is dedicated and accessed by the Hospital's entire Social Work staff when no other agency, clinic, charity or resource is available to provide immediate temporary assistance. Because of IHS's  immediate access, Social Workers have been able to provide  the least able with immediate lodging, food, co-pays, and other must-have requirements to balance their ability to sustain themselves immediately upon arrival.  ALL infant car seats for underfunded parents who must obtain a new car seat prior to release of their infants from Pediatric Clinics at the Medical Center have been provided by this charity for the last five years. Serving hundreds annually with lodging assistance and thousands with food ... There is NEVER a charge for assistance when IHS is called by a Social Worker for assistance. Those who are provided lodging do not know who is assisting them with payment for a room in UVA Hospitality House or as needed a commercial hotel room.  They only know that their Social Worker contact has reached out to a resource and secured their need. The same is true when an underfunded out-patient and family member does not have adequate funds for food, and the Social Work staff will take a "full-day meal packet" from the Social Work Office in the main hospital.  IHS provides from 150-300 meal packets monthly, as  needed. Your giving through CVC annually will keep this vital partnership active. The CVC Code for Interfaith Humanitarian Sanctum (IHS) is 3648.    Thank you! Please remember that all of us at IHS are non-paid volunteers, and we are all donating what we can to IHS personally. Also remember - for transparency we hold the "Gold Seal of Approval" from the Guidestar.org national clearing house. Please do what you can. And, if you would like to donate now to our cause, please click the button below to go to our encrypted secure on-line donation form.     Thank you so much for your ideas and invitations to expose this charity's vital mission. NEVER shy away from seeking gift-giving from others when you know it will serve the needs of the least able. Sincerely, T. Wade Clegg III and Sam McLawhorn

What it means to be a lifeline is well worth repeating!

AND ... it needs to be passed along to others by YOU. This is so easy to do ... SIMPLY CLICK ON FORWARD THIS E-MAIL TO ANOTHER FRIEND, EMPHASIZE THE IMPORTANCE OF KNOWING ABOUT THIS CHARITY ... AND YOU WILL HAVE POTENTIALLY GIVEN ADDED THRUST TO A WORTHY CAUSE. What is not generally known is that thousands of underfunded people have ONLY one place for critical treatment, and they live hundreds of miles from their dedicated place for treatment. That place for well over half of Virginia is the UVA Medical Center in Charlottesville. What can you say to introduce Interfaith Humanitarian Sanctum (IHS) to a friend? IHS is a totally independent, non-religious, 501(c)3, nonprofit, 24/7 public charity, accessed by all UVA Social Workers when no other charity, clinic, agency can be reached for assistance to assist indigent and underfunded patients and caregivers who MUST come to UVA Medical Center from great distances for treatment. That assistance MUST be directed as needed through the Office of Social Work, the responsible professionals who are fully acquainted with their patients and their ability to balance immediate physical needs for travel to and existence while in Charlottesville and away from home. These critical needs often include all of the following:   travel, lodging, food, prescriptions/co-pays, and other considerations. If these matters are not secured, that trip by far too many will be delayed. Time can be a factor regarding a possible diagnosis for life-saving treatment. This charity is a “silent partner,” working through UVA Hospital Social Workers ... a last lifeline YOU are among the approximately 650 contacts who receive this e-mail reminder no more than twice monthly. Among that number of recipients are the 50-60 Social Workers in the University of Virginia Medical Center in Charlottesville, along with a limited number of medical staff scattered throughout several clinics. The balance who receive these notes are friends made over the last eight (8) years as a small group of volunteers called and visited churches, businesses and other gatherings, explaining why we exist and what we are doing to sustain and strengthen our objectives. Those we assist directly through meeting their temporary immediate needs do not know us The only contact a patient or caregiver will experience is with their Social Worker. The Social Worker relationship allows this charity to know that a need truly exists. IHS does not have a way of knowing a patient or caregiver background ... but a Social Worker does. This allows IHS to move more quickly to respond and expedite a request. And - a decision was made from day one that this charity would be open for contact to ALL Social Workers 24/7. Invite your friends to access the IHS website and watch the 6 minute promotional video. The website is:  http://www.interfaithhumanitariansanctum.org Please remember that all of us at IHS are non-paid volunteers, and we are all donating what we can to IHS personally. Also remember - for transparency we hold the "Gold Seal of Approval" from the Guidestar.org national clearing house. Please do what you can. And, if you would like to donate now to our cause, please click the button below to go to our encrypted secure on-line donation form.   Thank you so much for your ideas and invitations to expose this charity's vital mission. NEVER shy away from seeking gift-giving from others when you know it will serve the needs of the least able. Much love, T. Wade Clegg III and Sam McLawhorn

A New & Convenient Way to Support IHS

Did you know that Interfaith Humanitarian Sanctum Inc has a unique AmazonSmile link that makes it easier for people to find and support our organization? Here is our IHS organization's unique link: http://smile.amazon.com/ch/26-3985605 What does our unique link do? When donors and supporters click on our organization's unique link, they skip the process to search for a charity to support among over 1 million eligible charities. Instead, they're taken to smile.amazon.com and are automatically asked if they want to support Interfaith Humanitarian Sanctum Inc. Can I just search for the IHS charity at smile.amazon.com? Yes. However, that makes it harder for you to find and select our organization. There are over 1 million eligible charities, and you may accidentally end up picking a different organization during the selection process. Sharing our charity link increases the likelihood that donors and supporters with automatically go to the page necessary for IHS to receive credit for your sales. Do you have to click on the IHS charity's AmazonSmile link every time I shop? No. Once you select our charity, IHS will receive 0.5% of the price of all your eligible smile.amazon.com purchases, regardless of whether they use your unique AmazonSmile link to return to the site. However, to make it easier for you in the future, I recommend that you bookmark to your Favorites and use this special link so you don't accidentally shop at www.amazon.com instead of smile.amazon.com. BEWARE: Only purchases made at smile.amazon.com are eligible for donations. What do donors and supporters do if they have already selected another charity previously  when they click on our organization's unique link? If someone is already supporting IHS, and they click on our unique link, they will simply be taken to smile.amazon.com so they can start shopping. You do not have to re-select our charity. If however you are supporting a different charity and click on our IHS link, you will be asked if you would like to switch to support IHS instead of the previous organization. I hope these instructions will make it easy for you to take part in this wonderful way to donate to IHS through one of the most popular e-Commerce sites on the internet. Please remember that all of us at IHS are non-paid volunteers, and we are all donating what we can to IHS personally. Also remember - for transparency we hold the "Gold Seal of Approval" from the Guidestar.org national clearing house. Please do what you can. And, if you would like to donate now to our cause, please click the button below to go to our encrypted secure on-line donation form.   Thank you so much for your ideas and invitations to expose this charity's vital mission. NEVER shy away from seeking gift-giving from others when you know it will serve the needs of the least able. Sincerely, T. Wade Clegg III and Sam McLawhorn

YES ... This charity is still making a difference!

Let's talk Lodging for a minute, for those who may not know any of the intimate details of service for the indigent and severely underfunded patients who must come to UVA Medical Center in Charlottesville from considerable distances. Prior to embarking on their trip to Charlottesville, many will have to consider how to balance lodging (if an outpatient), food for a period of days, and prescriptions prior to departure.  This challenge of actually being able to afford the expenses which surround a medical appointment or treatment can negate low income patients from coming for treatment.  If it sounds abhorrent that anyone would delay an appointment which might be life-threatening, please know that people in desperate financial strain will cancel treatment if their attention to themselves may cause financial stress on other family members. You've heard the saying attributed to someone in financial stress:  It's how to balance gas money for their vehicle and eat adequately, or bringing supplies for staying in their vehicle since hotels are simply too expensive to consider. Social Workers encounter desperate situations weekly in such a  large institutionThere are from 50-60 UVA Medical Center Social  Workers working all clinics throughout the Health System.  Considerable time is devoted to working a plan for what is known as a Pay Raise 1 patient.  This charity was begun in order to provide for immediate emergency situations, last minute arrivals, and often for those with a need for an extra day to complete a diagnosis. A few years ago, we also accepted the challenge of helping those extended stays at Hospitality House for outpatient chemotherapy in Cancer Center. Last week I received an e-mail from a Social Worker  who said ... "IHS has been such a blessing to so many of our underserved patients. In times of need and when no other assistance is available, your charity has been there to provide support. IHS has often bridged the gap in services from lodging to prescription assistance, without which patients would not have adequate access to healthcare. We are so grateful for this and all that IHS does for our community.  Thank you so very much." Sometimes sweet notes arrive in pairs, but almost never from someone being assistedPatients do not know to whom a Social Worker is seeking assistance for them, so it is indeed rare when a note arrives  in our P.O. Box.  However,  this past week a lady was feeling very depressed when she learned that her time in town would require three days, and she only had enough funds for one night.  The Social Worker told her that she had been able to secure assistance for her at Hospitality House, also a place where food is provided.   Mary Jackson, Supervisor at Hospitality House, did not tell this guest who was funding her stay, but she did accept a card from this very thankful patient, and mailed it to us. The card read, "God bless you all so much for paying my stay at Hospitality House. My cup runneth over. Thank you very much.  Sincerely with Love and thankfulness." So - YES - We are still making a difference.  And ... by the way ... we can always use some assistance with the Lodging budget.  Please remember that all of us at IHS are non-paid volunteers, and we are all donating what we can to IHS personally. Also remember - for transparency we hold the "Gold Seal of Approval" from the Guidestar.org national clearing house. Please do what you can. And, if you would like to donate now to our cause, please click the button below to go to our encrypted secure on-line donation form.   Thank you so much for your ideas and invitations to expose this charity's vital mission. NEVER shy away from seeking gift-giving from others when you know it will serve the needs of the least able. Much love, T. Wade Clegg III and Sam McLawhorn

September is CVC Kick-off month

Let's start with our need for growth among the main stakeholders - the employees at UVA The Commonwealth of Virginia Campaign (CVC) is an important category for support of the Interfaith Humanitarian Sanctum (IHS) charity. CVC is the payroll deduction program provided for Virginia state employees to give to charitable organizations. Remember - the University of Virginia (UVA) Medical Center is a state hospital. It is also  the key destination as one of two Virginia discount hospitals. IHS has a special relationship with ALL Social Workers to assist the least ableEach opportunity which allows us to introduce our devotion to the University of Virginia Medical Center indigent and underfunded patients and caregivers is so vital  for funding for serving their basic needs, such as immediate temporary lodging, food, prescriptions, some travel, etc., even supplying infant car seats for over five years for pediatric wards for the underfunded parents. IHS has been available 24/7 since June 2009 for Social Worker contact when no other resource is available to the Social Workers for immediate emergency assistance. As a silent charity working through Social Workers, the part we play is often hidden     After five years in the CVC Program,  this past year only twenty-seven (27) state employees among thousands employed in Charlottesville,  donated for the 2016 year. This represented an important total donation of $3,593.00; however, the growth in funding MUST be increased. IHS is a totally volunteer charity, no salaries, and the overhead and 24/7 participation is handled by a handful of people giving extensively.  The donor pool must be larger in order to secure our mission for the least able patients a long way from home.  One way to receive exposure for IHS is when a staff member seeks to have IHS introduced at kick-off events in the Medical Center. We haven't received any UVA Kick-off  invitations as of this writing, but we are reaching out Providing the most underfunded with assistance for lodging, nourishment, medications, and other needs is a critical issue which goes beyond actual medical treatment. According to the UVA Manager of Social Work. "Interfaith Humanitarian Sanctum has been an essential resource for these individuals who are experiencing acute or chronic medical conditions." Please e-mail IHS at ihsanctum@gmail.com Invite us to speak for 5 minutes during your Kick-off! Meanwhile ... we will have a tabletop display at the following locations in September-October: CVC Charity Fair, Western State Hospital, Staunton, VA  11AM -1PM September 28, 2016 CVC Charity Fair, Virginia DEQ Office, Glen Allen, VA  9:30 - 12 noon October 6, 2016 Please remember that all of us at IHS are non-paid volunteers, and we are all donating what we can to IHS personally. Also remember - for transparency we hold the "Gold Seal of Approval" from the Guidestar.org national clearing house. Please do what you can. And, if you would like to donate now to our cause, please click the button below to go to our encrypted secure on-line donation form.   Thank you so much for your ideas and invitations to expose this charity's vital mission. NEVER shy away from seeking gift-giving from others when you know it will serve the needs of the least able. Sincerely, T. Wade Clegg III and Sam McLawhorn

SPECIAL NOTICE for UVA Medical and University staff, and all other Virginia Commonwealth State Employees. The Commonwealth of Virginia Campaign (CVC) 2016 - 2017 returns October 1st.  Interfaith Humanitarian Sanctum, Inc. (IHS) is a CVC charity.  To support our work for lodging, food programs, prescriptions & co-pays, pediatric support with infant car seats and clothing, etc. , designate your gift to CVC code 3648..