Guests hold loved ones gone close to their hearts at Light up a Life

[December 09, 2017]   LINCOLN - On Tuesday evening, several weathered the chilly temperatures to attend the annual Light Up a Life service at Abraham Lincoln Memorial Hospital. Hosted on the east patio at the hospital, with shelter on three sides, the evening was not uncomfortable for those in attendance.

The service was kept short with the opening prayer being offered by Chaplain Donna Berte. Music was played on the keyboard by David Helm.

Berte began with a few welcoming comments and an opening prayer. She then led the group in the lighting of the candles. Berte asked that each person light the candle of his or her neighbor and as the candles began to blaze to whisper the name of the person she or he was honoring through the flame.

As candles were being lit, Sarah Helm read the poem “Light a Candle.”

Guests were asked to turn about and help with a countdown for the lighting of the annual LUAL tree.

The services closed with the group singing O' Christmas Tree, closing prayer by Berte, and the closing song, Silent Night.

Immediately following the service guests were invited inside for a soup supper provided by the hospital.

The annual service is just one component of the Light up a Life Campaign by the Abraham Lincoln Hospital Foundation. With a monetary donation the annual fundraiser offers folks an opportunity to offer up the name of loved ones who have passed whose lives were impacted by the work of ALMH. In recent years, the opportunity has expanded into a means of honoring staff and doctors at ALMH who offered medical care to patients, and tender care to loved as they experienced some of their darkest hours.

The funds raised by the LUAL campaign go toward the many projects of the Foundation at the hospital including purchases of new and innovative medical equipment, and scholarships for future nurses and doctors at the hospital.

The names of those being remembered or honored and the names of those who are honoring them is published annually in Lincoln Daily News. Look for the special Light up a Life publication to be placed on line later this month.

[Nila Smith]