Past President and Charitable Fundraiser Icon Betty Hungerford
to Be Honored at Homeland 155th Anniversary Celebration
submitted by Bob Saline
This year Homeland Center and Homeland at Home celebrates its 155th anniversary, and an event marking the historic occasion will honor a woman known throughout central Pennsylvania for her exceptional charitable fundraising and community dedication.
Homeland’s 155th Anniversary Celebration event on Sunday, May 15, 2022, at Hilton Harrisburg will honor Betty Hungerford. In addition to being a fundraising tour-de-force, Hungerford has repeatedly broken barriers for women in Harrisburg’s public relations profession throughout her remarkable career.
As Homeland Center’s director of development for 20 years, Hungerford has played a crucial role in raising funds for benevolent care, ensuring personal and skilled care Residents are never asked to leave because they can no longer afford to pay.
Hungerford’s tireless work goes far beyond Homeland. As a volunteer, Hungerford also lends her fundraising expertise to nonprofit organizations including Theatre Harrisburg; Polyclinic Medical Center Auxiliary; Harrisburg Symphony Society; and the Rotary Club of Harrisburg, for which she served as president in 2015-16.
“Betty’s civic spirit and dedication are a true inspiration,’’ said Homeland President and CEO Barry S. Ramper II. “An influential group of strong women spearheaded Homeland’s creation in 1867, and Betty embodies their spirit.’’
Hungerford also blazed a trail for women in the Harrisburg area’s public relations profession, earning respect and admiration from her peers.
She was honored with the Pennsylvania Public Relations Society’s Ernest R. McDowell Award in 1997; named Fundraising Professional of the Year by the Central Pennsylvania Chapter of Association of Fundraising Professionals in 2006; and received the Public Relations Society of America Central Pennsylvania Chapter’s Frederick E. Leuschner Award for Excellence in Public Relations in 2014. In 2017, she received the Karen Snider Women in Philanthropy Award from the Foundation for Enhancing Communities.
Tributes to our “Queen Bee’ have been flowing in regional media including:
- ABC 27 TV
- Harrisburg Regional Chamber/CREDC
- Online Publishers
- PennLive
- PRSA Central PA newsletter
- Susquehanna Style Magazine
- The Burg
- Various other social media outlets
Homeland’s tradition of care began 155 years ago after the Civil War. Eighteen women of nine churches in the city of Harrisburg vowed to help orphaned children and widows left homeless in the wake of the war. They rallied support to establish the “Society for the Home for the Friendless,” which by the 1950s became Homeland Center with a new mission: caring for the community’s seniors.
Today, Homeland Center occupies a full block along Fifth Street in uptown Harrisburg, where it offers exceptional personal care, skilled nursing care, memory care and short-term rehabilitation. Homeland consistently receives the highest recognition for quality care, staffing and safety, ranking it among the best in the country.
Homeland Center is part of Homeland’s broader continuum of care. Homeland at Home, a community outreach program of Homeland Center, provides quality care and support to Patients and Clients in the comfort of their own home.
For more information about Homeland’s 155
th Anniversary Celebration, including tickets, tributes and sponsorships, visit
homelandanniversary.org.
