Laurie and Steve House of Hannawa Falls present Mary Jones, center, director of family support services for Hospice, with a donation to support the Children’s Bereavement Program.

POTSDAM -- Through Hospice and Palliative Care of St. Lawrence Valley, a Hannawa Falls family is expanding on its efforts to offer programs for local youth when they experience grief.

Laurie and Steve House, and their son Eian, have been involved with efforts to expand such programs, in memory of Christian House.

Previously, their donations supported an effort to create Grief Tool Kits which were given to every school in St. Lawrence County.

Their current gift will support facilitator training for school professionals to become educated in leading a six-week support group for students experiencing different forms of grief.

“We are very grateful to Steve, Laurie and Eian for their on-going support of our Children’s Bereavement Programs” said Hospice Director of Family Support Services Mary Jones. “While assisting children in effectively processing grief is essential to their development, funding for these programs remains scarce.”

“Generous donations such as this enable Hospice to examine the needs of the community and use our expertise to provide the needed education and support to address those needs” Jones said. “We are so pleased to partner with the House family to serve schools and youth in St. Lawrence County in memory of Christian.”