The Blessing Foundation is a charity dedicated to improving the care and lives of people within our local community. We support individuals and families on their healthcare journeys, health science students for their education and Blessing and Illini hospitals and clinics working to improve the care they provide.

Charity Begins at Home: the Blessing Foundation Difference

From large projects to small expenses, we do what it takes to help our community. The Blessing Foundation provides funding for:

  • Individuals and families: When you become ill, your household bills don’t disappear. If you are a Blessing patient without the financial resources to cover basic expenses, we may be able to help. We have provided wheelchair ramps, paid electric bills, furnished gas money and bought new car tires for qualified individuals and families.
  • Students: Our health science students are the future caregivers at Blessing. We provide financial aid to most students at Blessing-Rieman College of Nursing & Health Sciences.
  • Departments: Every year, we provide grants to Blessing and Illini departments and clinics to improve care at their facilities. We have funded major renovations and new equipment at Blessing and Illini hospitals.

Blessing Foundation Funds, Scholarships and Grants

We oversee numerous funds and scholarships donated by generous individuals and Blessing Health System employees. We disburse grants from our investments to improve healthcare facilities. Learn about how to choose a fund or scholarship to support.

Funds to support individual and facility expenses

We have many funds for Blessing Hospital and Illini Community Hospital. Read more stories about helping our patients and their families.

  • Restricted funds: Donors specify how these funds can be spent. For example, the Merrick Family Medical Crisis Fund subsidizes travel, lodging and food expenses for families of children who have been transferred to a facility with a higher level of pediatric care in another town.
  • Unrestricted funds: Unrestricted donations to the Blessing Foundation go to fund general improvements in healthcare across Blessing Health System, or the funds can go into the Caring Club which was created by Blessing employee and community donations. This fund supports patients on their health journeys, regardless of the particular illness or condition, when the help they need cannot be provided through any other specific fund.

Scholarships for Health Science Students

Thanks to individual donors, we provide financial aid to most students at Blessing-Rieman College of Nursing & Health Sciences. For the 2022-23 academic year, $1,600,000 was awarded to Blessing nursing students in grants and scholarships.  Students are matched with the most appropriate scholarships for their situations and needs, and currently there are over 40 scholarships.

Department grants

Every year, Blessing Health System departments apply for additional funding from the Blessing Foundation to improve their facilities, update or purchase equipment or enhance their services to patients. For 2023, the Blessing Foundation provided $1,868,189 from its investments for such grants. Learn about our grants and projects.

Why I Give to the Caring Club

Tammy Pressey, Reimbursement Director, Denman Corporate Services

“The Caring Club is not a charity, just giving to anyone. It helps those who have limited resources and are sometimes gravely ill. It's people helping people, which is what we are meant to do. I give because it is one of the many ways I can give back. Hearing the stories of those helped, it's touching how we make a difference. People who are sick have so many worries and emotions. It feels good to know I may have contributed to taking a little stress off of an already highly stressful situation. In our business we see people who do not have the means to obtain the items they need; but with the Caring Club, these individuals not only receive those much needed items, they go home to heal.”

Donate

Our online donation form makes it easy to choose a fund and make a gift in your name or in honor of a loved one. Make your donation today. If you would prefer to mail your donation, send it to the address below:

Blessing Foundation
4939 Oak Street
PO Box 7005
Quincy, Illinois 62305-7005

Contact Us

For more information about the foundation or to discuss a donation or gift, call (217) 223-8400, ext. 4800, or email us at blessingfoundation@blessinghealth.org.