Tidewell Foundation hosts Off the Clock

It was the Tidewell Foundation’s turn to host the latest Longboat Key Chamber of Commerce networking event. 

On March 23, about 45 members and guests gathered behind the building on Bay Isles Road for Off the Clock. It was a beautiful evening to mingle over cocktails and appetizers from Harry’s Continental Kitchens. 

“Most of you are familiar with the Tidewell name. We’ve been in the community for over 40 years. What you may not know is that now that we’re part of Empath Health, we are full life care,” Interim President Delesa Morris said. “We’re adding some service lines to many communities, and we’re stretching into Lakeland and all the way through Ocala and all the way down to Naples. We just continue to grow, so that we can serve this community better.”

Tidewell is a main provider of grief counseling, perhaps because the nonprofit goes above and beyond traditional therapy. They also grant wishes. Requests are often something simple, like a trip to the beach, but George Downing set his sights much higher.

Downing, 72, was shot down twice while serving in Vietnam as an Army helicopter pilot. Now in hospice, his last wish was “to jump out of a perfectly good airplane.” So on March 22, his friends and family gathered at the Southwest Florida Skydive Club and watched as Downing took off and then parachuted back down to the ground.

Last wishes for patients and family members are paid for by donors to the Wishes Fund. Linens are another extra the nonprofit provides. Each year, they partner with Dignity Memorial Funeral Homes to hold a drive called “Linens and Love.”   

“Many of our patients that our clinicians visit with, some of them do not have linens,” Morris said. “As we go into the homes, we want to be able to provide something that simple and give them the dignity they deserve in their last days in their life.”

There are 29 dropoff locations across eight counties, or donations can be made through Amazon. The drive runs through March 31.