In Honor of Mother Mary

Eric and Peg Nickelsen, find opportunities “to help people who haven’t been helped before,” pouring time, service, and personal finances to uplift those in need, to “make things happen” for the good of the community and to improve the well-being and health of others.

Their newly created “Mother Mary Fund Supported by the Nickelsen Family” was established from the sale of Miracle Camp at Ascension Sacred Heart. The fund is a reinvestment back into the community, helping in ways that will impact the future health and well-being of those in need. “This fund is a fulfillment of the original vision of Miracle Camp,” says Eric.

The Mother Mary Fund will reach beyond hospital walls to alleviate hardship, helping patients and families where they are in life. The Mother Mary Fund will offer a lifeline to patients by providing healthcare-related transportation and vital necessities such as prescriptions, medical equipment, respite care, dialysis support and at-home infusions. “Not having resources and support makes you feel alone and less worthy” Peg believes. “Our support aims to restore dignity and value to its recipients, showing individuals that someone cares.”

“The Mother Mary Fund may not have a physical presence in the community, but it has the presence we really want, and that is helping others,” Peg explains. The Nickelsen's recognize that “life is complex and hard” and they look to find opportunities to make a difference with “one basic thought: providing gifts to help and celebrate life.”

The fund’s name was inspired by the nurturing love of mothers. Peg states, “Often people look to their mother for help, mothers are the solace to a child. And how better than to have the image of Mary, a loving Divine presence, the mother of Christ, providing that solace?”

Sacred Heart extends its heartfelt gratitude to the Nickelsen's and the community for their creation of The Mary Fund, a cherished blessing poised to uphold the Foundation’s legacy of “giving to help others.” The heartfelt generosity of the Nickelsen family will serve to bring the ministry and its mission well into the future, impacting real lives every day.