Special to Iredell Free News
The Rotary Club of Statesville – Fourth Creek has donated $25,000 to the Iredell Health Foundation.
The donation is earmarked for converting the family waiting room of The Birth Place at Iredell Memorial Hospital into a family resource center.
The transformation to The Birth Place will provide a waiting area that will accommodate those who need a space to relax, have a meal, or even work remotely while their loved one is a patient of the hospital’s maternity unit.
“It was important to us that families and relatives have a place to be comfortable while waiting to see their newborn, or perhaps when the mother needs privacy, there be a place they can go nearby,” said Ken Vance, a Rotarian and member of the Laura Laws Foundation board, where the donation stems from. “The goal is to keep as much normalcy as they can in their life during that time – that’s what we envision this being at The Birth Place,”
For more than 20 years, the Rotary club has hosted the Laura Laws Memorial Golf Tournament.
The event honors the life of Laura Thomas Laws, an Alexander County native who died suddenly on July 17, 2003. She played collegiate golf at Wake Forest University and was a 15-time club champion at Statesville Country Club. Her husband Edwin is a charter member of the Rotary Club. Since its inception, the event has raised close to $1 million for local charities, like the Iredell Health Foundation.
“The funds we raise from that tournament support things in the community in the spirit of Laura Laws. She believed in children, education, helping individuals that needed assistance and overall support of the community, and those are the four principles we look at when making any type of gift,” Vance said.
That’s why in the fall of 2023, the club reached out to Iredell Health System to see if there was a project they could assist with that would embody the causes Laura held dear.
“We feel like this family room will touch a lot of people. The motto of Rotary is doing good, service above self, that’s how it all got started. We’re reinvesting the proceeds from the Laura Laws golf tournament back into our local community.”
The upcoming changes to The Birth Place are part of Iredell Health System’s commitment to enhancing patient-centered care and improving health and wellness within the community.
“We are deeply grateful to the Rotary Club of Statesville – Fourth Creek for their generous donation,” said John Green, president & CEO of Iredell Health System. “This gift will significantly enhance the experience of families who utilize The Birth Place at Iredell Memorial Hospital and further our mission to keep healthcare local.”
“We are honored that we have the opportunity to do something like this locally,” Vance said. “We’re just trying to make a difference in our own community.”
About Iredell Health Foundation
The Iredell Health Foundation is a 501(C)3 nonprofit organization responsible for philanthropy for Iredell Health System. It supports the system’s programs and services through donor-centered fundraising. The Foundation focuses on raising community awareness of specific programs that need funding and provides individuals and organizations hoping to make a difference and leave a legacy the opportunity to support local healthcare needs of their choice. To learn more, or to make a donation, visit www.iredellhealthfoundation.org or call 704-878-4547.