McArthur, St. Paul’s UMC donate gowns to hospice

Betty McArthur stands with Sue Ellen Parrish of Scotland Regional Hospice behind the donated hand-made hospital gowns.

LAURINBURG - This week, two dozen hand-made hospital gowns were delivered to the staff at Scotland Regional Hospice.  The gowns were donated by St. Paul’s United Methodist Church of Maxton and are the continuation of a two-decade mission of love started by Betty McArthur.

McArthur began making gowns following her first personal experience with hospice care in 2001.  “Hospice had taken care of my father-in-law and I was just so impressed with them,” McArthur said.  “They didn’t just look after the patient, they looked after the family too.  It just made such an impression on me.”

Looking for a way to show her appreciation and support, McArthur reached out to Bunny Lancaster, who was the marketing director for the organization at the time.  McArthur was serving as the president of the United Methodist Women, so she asked Lancaster what her women’s group could do to bring comfort to the hospice patients.  Lancaster made a few suggestions of ways that they could help, but it was her mention of the hospice gowns that seemed both challenging and fulfilling to McArthur.

“I called Bunny and she mentioned that there were a few things they needed, but the thing they needed most was hospital gowns,” McArthur said of her initial phone call with Lancaster.  “She said that since our church was a small church, making hospital gowns may be something too big for us to handle.  I thought, ‘well that sounds like a challenge.’”

McArthur started the endeavor by taking one of her father’s hospital gowns apart and creating a pattern out of butcher paper.  After her group successfully stitched together the first gowns, they were prayed over during a Sunday service and delivered to the hospice office.

Today, the project is embedded into the culture at Scotland Regional Hospice.  The gowns are cherished by the hospice staff, volunteers, patients, and families and their recurring deliveries are anticipated and appreciated.  At St. Paul’s UMC, that act of spontaneous generosity and compassion has blossomed into a legacy of love that has not wavered.

“We have been making gowns for 21 years,” McArthur shared.  “It is even a line item in our budget.  It was our mission minute topic at church recently and people came up to me after church to donate money for fabric.  We pray over each gown before delivering them.  We are grateful for the chance to be able to do this.”

Since started this project, the St. Paul’s women’s group has also made gowns for other organizations, causes, and individuals throughout the years.

For more information on volunteer services and ideas of how you can help improve the quality of life of the terminally ill, please call Bunny Hasty at Scotland Regional Hospice at (910)276-7176.