By Mary Owen
In 1994, Curt Schumacher was awarded $500 to attend Pacific University by Santiam Hospital Auxiliary.
Many students have received financial help from the group since that first recorded gift helped Schumacher with his college fees. Most of the funds are raised from the annual Christmas Poinsettia Sale, held this year Dec. 5-6, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the hospital foyer.
Large potted plans come in a variety of colors and will sell for $15, with proceeds to go to the scholarship fund and help purchase items needed by hospital departments.
“The scholarship that was provided to me through the auxiliary assisted with my book fees and tuition expenses,” said Erika Lentz, now a registered nurse at Santiam Hospital. “Anyone interested in a applying for a scholarship through should do so. During and throughout my schooling, I have applied for many scholarships and received them. The best advice is to take the time to apply.”
A Regis High School graduate, Lentz hails from a long line of Stayton, Sublimity and Lyons area residents, including her great-grandparents, grandparents and parents. She lives in Lyons with her husband, Grant, and their black lab, Kosi.
“I started at the hospital in 1999, when I was a senior at Regis,” she said. “During the summer of 1998, I took my CAN course at Marian Estates. Up until this point, I was convinced I was going to go to college and pursue a law degree.”
But her interests changed, and after graduating from Regis, she attended Chemeketa Community College, transferred to Mt. Hood Community College, and graduated in 2003 with an associate degree in nursing. In 2004, she earned her bachelor’s degree in nursing from Oregon Health Sciences University.
“Nursing was never an actual thought,” she said. “It just happened, but I have enjoyed the challenge, change, growth and experience that it has brought me.”
Lentz has worked in the emergency department, medical/surgery and obstetrics.
“As life has changed and the hospital has grown, I have changed and grown,” she said. “I worked on night shift for many years as the house supervisor and with the opening of the new ‘hospital,’ I have become the nurse manager for the Family Birth Center. It has been a pleasure and a joy to see the hospital come from the two labor and delivery rooms into the five that we now have.” Lentz has also participated in many mission trips to Haiti and Vietnam.
“My only regret is that I didn’t figure out my love of mission work until I was 30,” she said. “The trips have taught me why I love nursing and have chosen the right career.”
Such success stories spur Santiam Hospital Auxiliary members to continue their quest to help students, said auxiliary member Margie Forrest.
“It is very rewarding to help the students to be able to attend the school of their choice in the medical field,” Forrest said. “Many times the students will write and tell us how they are doing or how grateful they are for the help. We have had several come to a meeting to give us a rundown of how they are doing and what their future plans are.”
This year, Santiam Hospital Auxiliary awarded $10,000 to 15 students residing in the hospital’s service area in amounts varying from $500 to $1,000. All are pursuing careers in the medical profession at an accredited institution.
Notices will be sent to local high schools in January for the next round of scholarship applications.
For information on the Santiam Hospital Auxiliary, call 503-769-2175. To pre-order poinsettias, call Char Bartosz, 503-749-2910 or Wilma Shelton at 503-769-5290.
