Penny Aviotti recently joined the Baptist Memorial Health Care Foundation staff as a development officer.
Previously, she managed First Tennessee Foundation—evaluating the distribution of dollars to non-profit agencies throughout Tennessee.
Her chief focus at Baptist is supporting Baptist Trinity Hospice, including the Baptist Trinity Hospice House, the area’s first residential hospice, which has served more than 800 patients since its inception, including those without the means to pay for their care. Aviotti also supports the Kemmons Wilson Family Center for Good Grief, which offers free grief counseling, seminars and workshops to the entire community. More than half the individuals who attend grief counseling have experienced the sudden loss of a loved one through a traumatic experience such as an accident, a suicide or a murder. The Hospice House and Grief Center are located on the campus of Baptist Memorial Hospital-Collierville.
“Working with the Baptist Memorial Health Care Foundation to help grow support for the hospice and grief programs is a mission, not a job,” said Aviotti. “Through personal experience, I know the difference Camp Good Grief can make in the life of a child. Providing hospice care to Mid-South patients and families gives us the opportunity to show compassion at a time when it is needed most, and allows us to help patients focus on living their last days to the fullest.”
To find out more about the Center for Good Grief or Hospice House, please visit bmhgiving.org.
Baptist Memorial Health Care Foundation is the fundraising arm of Baptist Memorial Health Care, a not-for-profit organization. Funds raised by the Foundation help to accomplish Baptist’s charitable care objectives and provide resources for enhancing patient care, education, and groundbreaking clinical research. Generous gifts made by individuals, families, corporations, foundations and other organizations to Baptist Memorial Health Care Foundation play a vital role in fulfilling the mission of the Baptist Memorial Health Care system.