Honor My Wishes goes public with Thursday meeting

Published 12:20 pm Thursday, December 11, 2008

By Brenda Sexton

The Courier-Herald

Last week, volunteers gathered at Sacred Heart Church in Enumclaw to put together 1,000 binders filled with thought-provoking questions and important information to help families and individuals make end-of-life decisions easier.

The first of two community meetings where the Honor My Wishes binders will be handed out and discussed begins at 3 p.m. Thursday at the Enumclaw Public Library. The second meeting takes place at 7 p.m. June 9, also at the library.

Organizers say much of the information consists of things people either don't know or don't want to think about.

For example, the information for a death certificate must be submitted within 72 hours after the body expires. It asks questions about the deceased such as date and place of birth, Social Security number, education, military service and more. Where will surviving family members find that information? Can they find it?

Would surviving family members know where to locate legal documents? Who to contact for loans?

The goal of Honor My Wishes program is to create a situation where people won't be afraid to talk about and plan for their death, program vice president Trip Hart said.

The binders cover health and medical issues, wills and documents and peace-of-mind subjects like funeral plans. It covers things like cremation versus burial and even has a planner to compare funeral home services and prices.

"In a time of grief it's hard to be a wise consumer," Hart said.

The last section is a handy glossary and list of resources.

The distribution of the binders culminate close to four years of work that started as Respecting Choices, based on a model developed in LaCrosse, Wisc., and evolved into Honor My Wishes.

Honor My Wishes is able to hand out many of the binders free thanks to the donations of Franciscan Foundation, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (Last Acts Partnership and Rallying Points), End of Life Choices of Connecticut, Enumclaw Lions, Mutual of Enumclaw, United Way, Enumclaw Community Hospital, Enumclaw Community Hospital Foundation, Enumclaw Kiwanis, Enumclaw Medical Center, Enumclaw Rotary, Puget Sound Energy, Sacred Heart Church and The Printer's Inc.

A recent $12,000 donation from Enumclaw Community Hospital will cover another 1,000 copies.

For more information, the group is in the process of establishing a Web site at www.HonorMyWishes.org or call 360-272-4024.

Brenda Sexton can be reached at bsexton@cmg-northwest2.go-vip.net/courierherald.