A Half Million Dollars for a Place with a Big Heart
The Latest from Marquette, MI by Brian Cabell
THE FINAL NUMBERS are in from the big “Grill and Chill” fundraiser at the Steve Mariucci Family Beacon House two weeks ago…and they’re astonishing. During that one high-spirited evening, the Beacon House raised $557,500 from the assembled guests and sponsors who, incidentally, came not just from Marquette, but from all over the Upper Peninsula.
That’s because the Beacon House provides rooms for all patients and families who need lodging next to UPHS-Marquette. “That’s our mission,” says Beacon House CEO Mary Tavernini Dowling, “to make sure that, in a medical crisis, nobody has to stay home or sleep in a car because they can’t afford to be near their loved one because they can’t afford it.”
There is a special poignancy to the Beacon House mission—sometimes a life-or-death urgency to it—that distinguishes the Beacon House from the other nonprofit fundraisers in town. And that’s apparently why the wallets open so wide when the Beacon House asks for help.
One case from a year and a half ago tells the story perfectly.
“One of our major donors had an employee who was in an accident—a recreational accident,” Tavernini explains, “and he ended up with a traumatic brain injury. Doctors weren’t sure he would survive. So everybody—his mom and dad, grandmother and grandfather, everybody in the family—wanted to be with him and help him get through it. They were in seven different rooms over the course of nearly a month.”
And the young man, Michael Talerico, did get through it. He survived.
“I remember when we heard that he was able to walk down the hallway of the hospital for the first time,” Tavernini says, “the family here was cheering and crying. It was so emotional! And we were cheering and crying, too, because, by that time, we had all become part of his family.”
Talerico today has entirely recovered from what had been a life-threatening injury, thanks to skilled surgeons and medical care…and the Beacon House. “Doctors tell us that one of the big reasons patients with traumatic injuries or diseases are able to pull through,” Tavernini says, “is because they know that family and friends who love them are nearby.”
Something else happened during Talerico’s medical crisis.
“While he was in the hospital, his sister was supposed to have her wedding, and they were going to call it off,” Tavernini continues. “They couldn’t have a big celebration somewhere else while her brother was in the hospital. So a nurse in the Intensive Care Unit said, ‘Why don’t you have the wedding at the Beacon House?’ So that’s what we did! We threw her a wedding at the Beacon House!”
They put up a tent, they decorated, they supplied the flowers, their pastor came in from Iron Mountain, the bride’s father walked her down the aisle that the Beacon House designed for them. It was a special day that raised spirits during what had been a trying time for the whole family.
There are plenty of other, similar stories at the Beacon House—stories of tragedy, pain, hope, human kindness, relief, and survival. In the last three years, 8500 guests have spent 31,000 nights at the 22-unit Beacon House. It’s been a peaceful, caring respite for people in times of crisis.
Eventually, it’ll have to expand. The recent fundraiser, led by benefactor-in-chief Steve Mariucci, will now allow them to buy property for expansion adjacent to their current facility. The need is there. It will always be there.
And the Steve Mariucci Family Beacon House, with a big heart, a helping hand, and a smiling face, sits there, a stone’s throw from the hospital, ready to welcome you and your loved ones.
POEM OF THE WEEK
“Have You Earned Your Tomorrow?”
Is anybody happier because you passed his way?
Does anyone remember that you spoke to him today?
This day is almost over, and its toiling time is through;
Is there anyone to utter now a kindly word of you?
Did you give a cheerful greeting to the friend who came along?
Or a churlish sort of "Howdy" and then vanish in the throng?
Were you selfish pure and simple as you rushed along the way,
Or is someone mighty grateful for a deed you did today?
Can you say tonight, in parting with the day that's slipping fast,
That you helped a single brother of the many that you passed?
Is a single heart rejoicing over what you did or said;
Does a man whose hopes were fading now with courage look ahead?
Did you waste the day, or lose it, was it well or sorely spent?
Did you leave a trail of kindness or a scar of discontent?
As you close your eyes in slumber do you think that God would say,
You have earned one more tomorrow by the work you did today?
—Edgar A. Guest
The poem is beautiful & inspirational! Is the Author a Yooper?