Gratitude is service in action for Clarendon Hills Women’s Club

Gratitude is service in action for Clarendon Hills Women’s Club

The Doings Hinsdale

By Sara Clarkson

05.31.13

When Clarendon Hills Women’s Club members brought lunch to the Hines Fisher House at the Edward Hines Jr. VA Hospital last month, they were serving those who have served, and in the process, they ended up getting as much out of the experience as they put in.

Carol Haughey an active and long-standing member of the Women’s Club, was one of about seven women who visited the Hines Fisher House. The women had been so impressed with the facilities during their first visit there last year that they definitely wanted to come back and bring a lunch for Hines Fisher House guests. Club member Esther Maruska planned and organized the visit. The ladies brought a veritable feast including pasta, salads, sandwiches, fruit and cookies as well as a huge U.S. flag sheet cake.

The Hines Fisher House, just west of the Loyola University Medical Center, is one of 60 different Fisher Houses throughout the United States and even Europe. They serve as a “home away from home” for the families of patients receiving medical care at military and Veterans Affairs hospitals. These days, many of these patients are young men and women veterans of our Middle East wars. Patient families are invited to use Fisher House facilities to stay for extended visits, and Fisher Houses are fully equipped to resemble homes complete with kitchens, bedrooms and laundry areas.

“It’s absolutely gorgeous,” Haughey gushed.

The women served up the lunch and each sat at a different table with a different group of patients and families in the house’s lovely dining room. The Clarendon Hills women felt honored to visit.