Local & State Headlines

Group helping preserve the past

• A program aims to help hospice patients ensure their family stories live on through the generations.

Barbara Rivera Holmes

ALBANY — Dennis Stack thought he would have more time to learn his family story.

But as fate would have it, he’d lose his parents before getting the chance to record their tales.

His only child would never know her paternal grandfather and would barely know her paternal grandmother, who discovered she had Alzheimer’s disease when the girl was just 2.

“I was the fifth of six kids. (Father) was a workaholic and I never knew him that well,” said Stack. “It’s not until we become parents ... that we start thinking more about our parents.”

The loss of family history was a catalyst for Stack, a former stockbroker who since 2001 has been helping families record their stories.

For information about Project Storykeeper, visit www.projectstorykeeper.org.

Project Storykeeper is aimed primarily at hospice centers, where patients are nearing the end of their lives.

“In 2001 I created a kit ... suggesting that we start saving something other than money,” said Stack, of Arizona.

At Crisp Regional Hospice in Cordele, volunteer coordinator Cheryl Walls has six folks trained and ready to help patients audio record their legacy through Project Storykeeper.

“We are going ... into the patients’ homes and we have a booklet of several questions, about 200, of just different aspects of their lives, what their family history was about, where their ancestors came from,” said Walls.

The audio recordings and family photos are compiled onto a compact disc, which is then given to late patients’ families.

“As they look through photos, we ask them questions,” she said. “We have a recorder that records their voice and their stories in their own words.”

The program will kick off in a few weeks, Walls said, and already she’s received interest.

“People realize that there are stories to be told and if they don’t get them while they can, they (will lose them),” she said.

Walls said her grandfather died when she was five years old.

“I would love to have the ability to just hear his voice,” she said.

Project Storykeeper is a service that Crisp Regional Hospice, a nonprofit organization with a census of about 15 patients, offers for free, said Walls.

“A lot of people are very excited about it,” she said.

The program also allows for personal family Web sites where people can go to hear and read their stories. The Web site is through www.lifelenz.com, which is supported by Project Storykeeper Educational Materials.

“When they get their discs, they can upload it onto the computer Web site and upload the pictures of their family member for their whole lives,” Walls said. “Anybody can access it that has the information.”

More Headlines>>