Lewis donates land to Lower Cape Fear Hospice & LifeCareCenter

Local businessman Louie Lewis has donated 7.35 acres to Lower Cape Fear Hospice & LifeCareCenter for a new 20,000-square-foot inpatient hospice facility just off Old Ocean Highway in Bolivia.

CALABASH PHOTOGRAPHY

Pictured at a recent ceremony announcing a land donation for a new Lower Cape Fear Hospice & LifeCareCenter Brunswick care center are, front row, Lorri Shipston, campaign committee member; Louie Lewis, donor; Sibyl McLamb, campaign chairwoman; Laurie Byst

Buy this photo

“I’ve been blessed, and it is nice to share our blessings with others. Lower Cape Fear Hospice has been great to the community and this brings me great joy to be able to do this,” Lewis said.

Lower Cape Fear Hospice & LifeCareCenter served Lewis’ cousin, Vera Bowling, in 2009. When her daughters, Lorri Shipston and Sandra Tyner, learned the agency had received approval from the state to build a hospice care center in Brunswick County, they immediately signed up to help.

“A hospice care center closer to home would have made such a difference to our family during those last days with Mama,” Tyner said.

Shipston and Tyner knew Lewis had property within a few miles of the new Brunswick Novant Medical Center now under construction, so they decided to contact him about donating some of his land.

“You can’t get it if you don’t ask,” Shipston said.

“This land is central to the county, near the hospital, and convenient to [U.S.] 17 but off the main road. We are so grateful for Mr. Lewis’ generous donation,” said Lower Cape Fear Hospice & LifeCareCenter President and CEO Laurie Bystrom.

“Brunswick County has grown rapidly over the last few years,” Bystrom said. “There is an overwhelming need for a hospice facility in this region, and with its older population, the demand will continue to grow.”

Cindy Cheatham, director of the capital campaign to raise the needed $3.5 million for the center, said the site was even better than what the agency was considering.

“When I started working a little over a year ago, I said, ‘What are we looking for?’ They said, ‘We’d like to have something between 5 and 10 acres within 5 miles of the new hospital construction, and we would love to find someone to donate it.’”

With the help of Shipston and Tyner and Lewis’ generosity, the agency found just what it needed.

“It’s even better because it’s a wooded area. It’s on a main road, but it’s away from the traffic and noise, and it’s almost a mile from driveway to driveway,” Cheatham said.

The care center will feature spacious bedrooms, a dining area, a kitchen, a community gathering area, a children’s play area and gardens.

In recognition of Lewis’ gift, Lower Cape Fear Hospice & LifeCareCenter will name the facility’s Family Wing in his honor.

“The wing encompasses the living room, fireplace, kitchen and dining area and will serve as a gathering place for family members visiting loved ones at the care center,” Bystrom said.

Nurses now have to travel to patients’ homes, nursing facilities and hospitals throughout the agency’s five-county service area to provide hospice services.

“We make house calls,” Bystrom said. “Our hospice care centers in Wilmington and Whiteville are 30-60 minutes travel time for most families living in Brunswick County. Mr. Lewis’ donation brings us one step closer to home.”

Before construction can begin, Lower Cape Fear Hospice & LifeCareCenter must raise the necessary funds for the project.

W.J. and Sibyl McLamb, Tripp Sloane and Dianne Tripp are chairing the capital campaign effort. Many community volunteers from various areas of the county have stepped forward to help with the effort, and Cheatham said she is confident the center will be complete by 2012.

“We’re still in the silent phase of the campaign,” Cheatham explained. “The volunteers are really going out and meeting people face-to-face, telling them about our mission and what our expectations are next.”

Once the campaign reaches the halfway point, the public phase will begin. Lower Cape Fear Hospice will host a celebration gala, and campaign volunteers will begin speaking to churches and civic organizations about donating to the cause.

“It’s pretty much on schedule,” Cheatham said. “I’m just very excited to be a part of it. I love living in Brunswick County, and I know how much this is needed. I’m glad the people here will have something like this.”