Wayne HealthCare Foundation Donates AED

Trinity Lutheran Church Receives AED from Wayne HealthCare Foundation

Wayne HealthCare Foundation was honored to include Trinity Lutheran Church in Union City as part of the AED Grant Program for 2019. Wayne HealthCare Foundation’s grant program places Automated External Defibrillators (AED) with non-profit organizations in the local service area. Bev Thornburg, Council President reached out to Wayne HealthCare Foundation from Trinity Lutheran Church seeking information for the AED program. Trinity Lutheran Church (TLC), located in Union City, has a congregation of 262 with services on Sunday as well as many group meetings throughout the week. Led by Pastor Melinda Gapen, the church serves the public as a voting site for Union City, and also hosts many from the public on a regular basis with weddings, funerals, and other ceremonies and gatherings. The church leadership had recently received a gift in memory of long-time church member, Romilda Bruss.

Romilda worked as a nurse for over 30 years at the Union City Hospital, with health care being very close to her heart. Her daughter, Rachel Moystner, also a nurse, and a member at Trinity had the idea of using part of the legacy funds in memory of her mother to save lives and add to the overall health and well-being of the church. The AED grant program was an opportunity that came to the leadership team as a way of honoring Romilda for her years of service to the church as well as her years of service to the health care of the community. The Wayne HealthCare Foundation AED grant program is made possible to the community through the generous support of Midmark Corporation and Spirit Medical Transport, as well as Greenville Rotary and a few wonderful individual donors as well. The program is set up for non-profits to be able to obtain an AED unit through the program at 1/3^rd cost. With the generous help of our partners, especially Midmark Corporation, the partnership donates 2/3^rds of the cost of the units. Spirit Medical Transport donates all of the AED/CPR & First Aid training for the volunteers/staff at the non-profit organizations.

Wayne HealthCare Foundation is honored to work with Trinity Lutheran Church to place an AED in their church. An AED is a life-saving device that is used in a cardiac emergency. Bev Thornburg shared that on Sunday, June 23^rd the church had a special dedication of the AED with the family of Romilda concurrent with a student celebration as Romilda’s grandson was also celebrated for obtaining his Bachelor’s Degree this spring. “What an honor it is to be part of such a rich history of this church, honoring Romilda, and also the medical field that she dedicated her life’s work to enhance the Union City community. On behalf of Wayne HealthCare Foundation, Midmark and Spirit, we are touched by the meaning of this donation and blessed to be part of a program that has the potential to save lives,” stated Lauren Henry, Executive Director of Wayne HealthCare Foundation. Bev Thornburg shared, “Romilda would love this. She would be proud as a health care professional to see the technology changing in using AED’s. Being able to have the AED in the church to care for our TLC family would definitely make her smile. Our church motto is ‘Caring, Loving & Serving All God’s People.’ We live that mission everyday in all we do. At TLC we strive to save souls and now physical lives with this device. Thank you to Rachel and her family for wanting to remember Romilda in this special way.”

Pictured: From Left to Right: Mitch Eiting – Midmark Corporation, Bev Thornburg & Pastor Melinda Gapen – Trinity Lutheran Church, Lauren Henry – Wayne HealthCare Foundation, & Andrea Cahill - Spirit Medical Transport