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20 years of angels

Three families have bought Angels of Love since fundraiser began

-Submitted photo
Sue English, of Clare, poses with this year’s Angel of Love. Money raised from the Angels of Love fundraiser will go creating a relief room for hospital workers at UnityPoint Health — Trinity Regional Medical Center.

Twenty years ago, Sue and Jim English, of Clare, bought their first angel ornament for the Angels of Love fundraiser through the Friends Board of UnityPoint Health — Fort Dodge.

The angel was purchased in memory of their niece, Krista Fitzgerald, who was killed in an automobile crash at the age of 11 in 1999.

“I want our family to know we are still thinking of her and it’s a way to help in the gift shop (at UnityPoint Health — Trinity Regional Medical Center),” Sue English said.

The English family is one of three families who have bought Angels of Love every year since the fundraiser started.

“When they first came out, I thought it was a good idea and just kept on with it,” Sue English said. “I am surprised it’s been that many years.”

-Submitted photo
Lois Sampson, of Humboldt, poses with this year’s Angel of Love. Sampson said the angels are a way to remember those who have gone before us. "I've just kept doing it because I know how much the angels mean to me," she said.

Sarah Bihrer, of Ankeny, was working in radiology at the Fort Dodge hospital when she began buying the angels 20 years ago. She bought them in memory of her father, who died in hospice when Bihrer was a senior in high school. Every year she would give the angels to her mother, who served as a hospice volunteer.

“When I originally bought the angel in memory of my dad, the angel always went to my mom,” Bihrer said. “We thought it was a neat way to put my dad’s name up there in honor of him. Eventually, I added my eventual mother-in-law in memory of the son she lost and an angel went to her.”

About 10 years ago, Bihrer’s mother-in-law passed away. Bihrer’s mother passed away two-and-a-half years ago.

She still purchases two angels each year — one in memory of her parents and one for her in-laws.

Bihrer, who now works at UnityPoint Health — Des Moines, only has one sent to her. The other is donated.

-Submitted photo
Jenny Speer, the daughter of Lois Sampson from Humboldt, decorates her tree with Angels of Love every year. Some of the angels were not purchased through the Friends Board of UnityPoint Health — Fort Dodge, but most are. Lois Sampson buys an Angel of Love every year for her whole family to enjoy.

The angels are special to her.

“It was a tradition for my mom and I to go to the hospital and pick up the angel every year,” Bihrer said. “It’s such a good cause. I wouldn’t want to stop at this point.”

Part of the fun is seeing what the angels look like.

“It’s kinda neat to see how they have changed over the years,” Bihrer said. “They have done a great job with it.”

Bihrer recently got this year’s angel in the mail.

“I think it’s one of the best ones they have done,” she said. “It’s just beautiful.”

Lois Sampson, of Humboldt, first bought an angel 20 years ago when she worked in environmental services at Trinity Regional Medical Center.

Sampson now buys three angels each year: one for her daughter, another for her son and one that stays with her.

Her daughter-in-law, Barb Sampson, gets the angel when she and Jon Sampson, come home for Christmas. Sampson’s daughter, Jenny Speer, puts up her own angel tree every year. The tree is filled mostly with angels from the Angels of Love fundraiser, but does have a few others she picked up elsewhere.

“Every angel she’s gotten from the hospital she puts up an angel tree,” Sampson said. “My other daughter displays them around their home and I display them here, too.”

The angels are for the whole family to enjoy, Sampson said.

“The girls and my grandchildren just love looking at the angels,” she said.

Sampson said the angels are a way to remember those who have gone before us.

“I’ve just kept doing it because I know how much the angels mean to me,” Sampson said. “I lost my mom in January and my dad in 2010. The angels are like a guardian angel in the house for me. I lost my sister-in-law last year one week before Christmas. These angels resemble my guardian angels of all my loved ones who have gone before us.”

The Angels of Love are on sale at the Trinity Gift Shop. Angels can be purchased with a $15 minimum donation. The Gift Shop has ordered about 1,000 angels.

This year the angel is a bell. It’s on display at the Trinity Gift Shop.

Cheryl Sayers, president of the Friends Board of UnityPoint Health — Fort Dodge, said she loves to see people pick up the angels.

“I see people purchase them from the hospital and there’s usually a story connected with the person they are honoring,” Sayers said. “I feel really honored to be there and giving them the angel. Some I know personally. Some I don’t. Some are in memory, some are in honor, some this year are honoring essential workers. It’s for a variety of reasons and I think people feel joyful when they are doing it. They are remembering loved ones or someone who has taken care of them in the hospital. It’s just a joyful thing.”

In past years, the project has supported endeavors such as purchasing a bariatric bed and new wheelchairs for the hospital.

This year, the money will go toward a relief room for hospital and essential staff, Sayers said.

“Since it’s been such a stressful year, we want to support all of our hospital staff,’ Sayers said. “It would be a place that staff could go to just pause for a while. Our staff is very important to the Friends Board and want to support them any way we can.”

For more information on the Angels of Love, call 515-574-6656.

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