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An endowment created in memory of the late Helena De Fina is helping those impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Wyoming Community Foundation recently established the COVID-19 Response and …
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An endowment created in memory of the late Helena De Fina is helping those impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Wyoming Community Foundation recently established the COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund to provide resources to organizations around Wyoming directly supporting vulnerable residents and families, such as food pantries, shelters, mental health organizations and child care centers.
The Helena De Fina Community Wellness Foundation board decided to make a one-time donation of $2,265 toward the COVID-19 response fund.
“We all felt it was the right thing to do in order to help the maximum number of our Wyoming neighbors as we all try to navigate this ‘new normal’ that we are faced with,” said Anthony Polvere, De Fina’s husband. “We will return to our usual endowment funding of non-profit organizations involved in wellness activities in Park County next spring.”
Polvere said those who remember his late wife know that had she been alive today, “she would have been on the frontlines of this health crisis trying to help in any way.”
“... from her knowledge in community health services, to her Spanish translating skills, to offering her yoga services for free to those in quarantine situations,” Polvere said.
De Fina was employed as a prevention specialist by West Park Hospital when she died unexpectedly at age 50 in early 2014.
The Helena De Fina Community Wellness Foundation was established to honor her memory and the causes she cared about by supporting organizations that promote physical and spiritual health and wellness.
“Though we do not actively fundraise for our endowment base, our principal continues to grow because of the generosity of local donors,” said Polvere, noting many of the donors are from Northwest College, where he teaches photography.
Last year saw more than $8,000 of new contributions, raising the endowment’s principal to almost $70,000, he said.
“That is an amazing $45,000 more than our initial goal of $25,000,” Polvere said. “So thank you from the bottom of our hearts.”
For more information about the endowment, visit the Helena De Fina Community Wellness Fund page on Facebook.
