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News & Events
Have A Meaningful Conversation At Your Next Gathering
What does it mean to walk alongside someone at the end of life with dignity, comfort, and love? Caring Hearts and Hands of Columbia can show you.
Deb Portell, Volunteer Coordinator, would love to share this mission with your group. Through real stories and a glimpse inside the home, she offers a meaningful look at how lives are touched every day.
Whether it’s a book club meeting in your living room, a church group, etc., Deb shares in a personal, easy-to-connect-with way—inviting others to be part of the work in whatever way fits them best.
If you’d like to have Deb speak at your next get-together, give her a call at 573-864-2402 or via email at dportellseven@gmail.com .
A Family’s Season of Love, Loss, and Togetherness
Article coming soon!
A Year of Generosity
Letter from the Executive Director
As we share our first newsletter of 2026, we begin the year with deep gratitude for the extraordinary generosity that helped us start this new chapter in a strong financial position. The support we received throughout 2025 reaffirmed how deeply our community believes in compassionate care and the mission that guides our work.
Caring Hearts and Hands of Columbia was also blessed by several families and individuals who chose to give items from our Amazon Wish List to help ensure our team has the supplies and tools to continue to provide our high quality care at the end-of-life.
During the CoMoGives campaign, supporters contributed an inspiring $16,553, strengthening our programs, enhancing comfort, and ensuring that every individual in our end‑of‑life home receives the dignity and gentle support they deserve. Beyond the campaign, we were humbled by $33,122 in direct donations, each gift a meaningful expression of trust in our work. Together, these contributions created real, lasting impact. In 2025, our end‑of‑life home, volunteers, and staff cared for a record‑breaking 75 individuals and their families—a testament to the growing need for compassionate, homelike end‑of‑life support. Your generosity allows us to continue providing a peaceful, comforting environment where individuals and their loved ones experience care rooted in respect, presence, and compassion.
As we step into 2026, we carry your kindness with us. Thank you for standing alongside our mission and helping us continue this important work with hope, strength, and gratitude.
With Gratitude,
Deanna Vander Weerd
Join Us For CoMoGives!
CoMoGives has officially started! This month-long online giving campaign (Dec 1–31) allows donors to support local nonprofits, with 100% of each gift going directly to the organization. Your donation this year can make a meaningful impact on the compassionate end-of-life care provided at Caring Hearts & Hands of Columbia.
Thanks to the generosity of Dick and Donna Otto, the first $1,000 donated will be matched dollar-for-dollar, doubling your impact.
Dick Otto, a board member and dedicated volunteer with CHHC, is proud to lead this match.
Gifts can be made online through our CoMoGives link on our website. Every donation is tax-deductible and directly supports our no-cost care.
Your support this December helps ensure we can continue offering dignity, comfort, and peace to the families we serve as we look ahead to 2026.
End-of-year Giving Plans
CoMoGives is a month-long online giving campaign (Dec 1–31) that allows donors to support local nonprofits, with 100% of each gift going directly to the organization. This year, your CoMoGives donation can make a meaningful impact on the compassionate end-of-life care provided at Caring Hearts & Hands of Columbia.
Thanks to the leadership of Dick and Donna Otto, the first $1,000 donated will be matched dollar-for-dollar, doubling your impact.
Gifts can be made online through our CoMoGives link on our website. Every donation is tax-deductible and directly supports our no-cost care.
Your support this December helps ensure we can continue offering dignity, comfort, and peace to the families we serve as we look ahead to 2026.
Join us December 1–31, and especially on Giving Tuesday, December 2, to help continue this vital work.
Building Peace: Brad Young with TigerTown Home Improvement tells his story
Among the evening’s voices was Brad Young, owner of TigerTown Home Improvement, whose personal experience drives his dedication to CHHC.
Brad reflected on the peaceful passing of his grandfather, cared for at home by family.
“Pure peace and love filled the room,” he shared. “I supported this mission because they provide a home — a final, peaceful place, just like what my grandfather had.”
As a Lighthouse Sponsor, Brad helps ensure families without medical professionals in their circle can still experience compassionate, dignified end-of-life care.
He also expressed gratitude to the CHHC team:
“Thank you — you’re giving this community a gift of immeasurable value.”
Executive Director Deanna echoed this:
“Brad shares our vision to give those facing the end of life the care and dignity everyone deserves.”
With partners like Brad and TigerTown Home Improvement, CHHC continues bringing peace, compassion, and dignity to families.
Lights For Love Unites Community
Event raised more than $30,000
This year’s Lights for Love luminary event was a meaningful evening of remembrance and community. Supporters, families, volunteers, and friends gathered to honor loved ones and celebrate the compassionate mission of Caring Hearts & Hands of Columbia.
Thanks to our community’s generosity, the event raised just over $30,000, including $3,365 from luminary dedications. Nearly 500 individuals were honored through the glowing luminaries, including every guest who passed in our home.
The event served as a powerful reminder of neighbors supporting neighbors. As one staff member shared, “Our community came together to honor those who came before us and support people’s transition out of this life.” Another attendee reflected, “This event gives our community a safe space to pause and practice grief together.”
We are deeply grateful to everyone who dedicated a luminary, donated, volunteered, or attended. Your compassion ensures we can continue providing comfort, dignity, and peace to our guests and their families.
Join Us for Our Annual Lights for Love Luminary Event
At the Lights for Love memorial, families and community members light a luminary in memory of their own loved ones. Together, we’ll reflect, celebrate lives, and find comfort in shared stories and music.
Whether this is your first time or you have done this before, the magic of the night remains: each flickering light offers a moment to pause, remember, and heal. With live musical performances, gentle reflection, and a welcoming spirit, this event is more than a memorial—it’s a community embrace.
For just $20, you can dedicate a luminary in your loved one’s name—lighting their memory in a beautiful and lasting way. All proceeds support Caring Hearts & Hands’ mission to provide compassionate, end-of-life care and caregiver support in our community.
Come walk amongst the lights. Share your memories. Be part of a gathering that reminds us of how deeply love endures.
As a founding sponsor, Missouri Cancer Associates (MCA) was integral to making our end-of-life home—and Lights for Love—a reality. MCA didn’t just see our vision—they embraced it wholeheartedly. Before we had walls, beds, or even a house, they saw the heart of our mission and chose to stand beside us.
That early belief turned into an extraordinary commitment: $20,000 per year for five years—a nearly an impactful investment in personalized, community-centered hospice and palliative care. It wasn’t just financial—it was deeply personal.
MCA’s Gift Helped David
One powerful example is the story of David Potts, whose family found peace and connection in their time at CHHC. That kind of impact wouldn’t be possible without early believers like MCA.
Excerpt from David’s story:
Caring Hearts and Hands of Columbia was privileged to be part of the life of one of its first guests, David Potts. Volunteers were able to provide the care he and his family needed in his final days. David stayed at the home for 11 days and passed away on his 12th. His wife, Janet, and his two sons, Mike and Greg, were all able to be with him in that time.
“We just felt like he got wonderful care,” Janet shared, “We were just so thrilled to be able to get the services offered.”
After David fell and went to the hospital, the social worker started talking about nursing homes, but he was adamant that he did not want to go to one. So the social worker told the family about Caring Hearts and Hands.
Today, as we continue to grow and serve, we do so on a foundation built in part by MCA’s vision, generosity, and trust. Their leadership has helped create something lasting—not only in bricks and mortar, but in the lives touched and comfort given.
To everyone at Missouri Cancer Associates: thank you. You were among the first to believe. You continue to walk beside us. And because of your commitment, families across mid-Missouri know they are not alone.
