CEO Message: May 2025

Incoming Board Chair, Yvonne Thomas, and Erin White, President & CEO

Dear Friends,

It is hard to believe I have already completed my first year as President & CEO of Hospice Giving Foundation—and what a year it has been. As I mark this milestone, I’ve been reflecting on what we do at Hospice Giving Foundation and why it matters so deeply. One recent evening brought this into powerful focus.

Last week, we partnered with the CSU Shiley Haynes Institute for Palliative Care at CSUMB to host a community screening of The Last Ecstatic Days, a poignant documentary following a young man’s final weeks as he faces terminal brain cancer. Watching this film, for the third time, but now on a big screen with more than 150 community members, was an emotional experience. It reminded me of one of the sacred responsibilities we hold at Hospice Giving Foundation: to create space for honest conversations about dying, caregiving, and what it means to live a meaningful life.

After the screening, we welcomed the film’s director, the physician who cared for the young man, and local end-of-life healthcare providers to join a panel discussion. Together, we explored the idea of “radical generosity,” reflected on our personal wishes for end of life and shared what gives our lives meaning. For a moment, the theater felt like a chapel, filled with strangers, united in vulnerability, curiosity, and compassion.

This is the heart of what Hospice Giving Foundation does: we make space for the hard conversations, we bring light to a topic most people avoid, and we help normalize planning for and understanding what end of life means to each of us as individuals.

With your help, we do this in three key ways:

• As funders, we work closely with local hospice agencies and palliative care providers to identify gaps in care, and fund innovations that improve comfort, dignity, and access for patients and families.
• As educators, we offer workshops and resources in English and Spanish across Monterey County, covering everything from advance care planning to the emotional and spiritual dimensions of grief and caregiving.
• As conveners, we bring people together—whether through the Monterey County Palliative Care Collaborative, our Juntos con Esperanza initiative focused on Latino communities, or public events like our Día de los Muertos celebration, Gratitude Luncheon, and last week’s film screening.

Thanks to your support, Hospice Giving Foundation continues to be a trusted leader in our community. As we enter our annual grantmaking season, I invite you to consider making a contribution to help us fund, educate, and convene around compassionate end-of-life care. We value your partnership and presence in the work ahead and hope to see you in the community soon.

With deep gratitude and warm wishes to you and your family,

Erin White
President & CEO

P.S. Our Fashion & Compassion event will be held on August 26, 2025, at the Monterey Peninsula Country Club. Please visit hospicegiving.org/fashion-compassion to learn more.