Festival Mission
The Lake Champlain Dragon Boat Festival, presented by Community Bank N.A. in 2023, is a charity fundraiser where all funds raised support Dragonheart Vermont (DHVT) (a non-profit breast cancer wellness organization) and its Pledge Partner (an annually designated wellness and cancer-related local organization). All funds stay local!
How can you help us reach our $165,000 goal for 2023?
Our 2023 Pledge Partner
The 2023 Pledge Partner is the McClure Miller Respite House, Vermont’s only Medicare-certified inpatient hospice residence, is a home away from home for people with terminal illnesses.
The current Respite House building opened in 2016 in Colchester and features 21 resident rooms specially designed to allow state-of-the art medical care within a home-like environment. Support received as a pledge partner of the Lake Champlain Dragon Boat Festival will contribute crucial funding that allows us to provide exceptional and dignified end-of-life care for neighbors without the financial resources to pay for this care on their own. Over half of our Respite House residents are unable to pay the full cost of their care. The total cost of care provided to those residents is nearly $1 million each year.
A message from our partner: We believe all Vermonters deserve access to the quality end of life care we provide, extending far beyond the individual to encompass their caregivers, family and community. While their loved one is at the McClure Miller Respite House, family members can focus on being family, not caregivers. Our interdisciplinary team provides round-the-clock care, support and resources including: a physician, nurses, licensed nursing assistants (LNAs), spiritual caregivers, social workers, bereavement counselors and volunteers.
The Respite House is a treasured resource for families throughout Vermont, serving our neighbors since 1991. Through our more than 30 years of serving the terminally ill in Vermont, they have maintained a commitment to providing highly skilled, comprehensive, person-centered care to individuals of all ages facing a terminal diagnosis and their families. Traversing the end-of-life journey requires determination, courage and support. It takes a village of loved ones and professionals who embody bravery to accompany you through your journey.