Concordia Events: 2022 Year in Review

2022 Concordia Events Year in Review

The full return of in-person events, community fellowship and opportunities to share our mission with old and new friends were among the many blessings Concordia experienced in 2022. Here’s a look at what we were up to this year with a sneak peek of what’s to come in 2023:

Community
If you have ever been to an annual Summer Festival or Oktoberfest celebrated on the Concordia at Cabot campus, you already know the unlimited kids’ activities, delicious eats prepared in-house by our talented food service team and extraordinary entertainment set the backdrop for fun-filled family outings. All are welcome, and there are plenty of reasons to smile – including no admission costs and free food for kids! Come back this year and bring your neighbor – we look forward to hosting our community in 2023. Days have been set for both festivals, check out our events page to save the dates!

The 2022 Concordia Fishing Derby reeled in the fun and some of the biggest catches of the event’s history – two mammoth largemouth bass measuring in at 21 and 19 ½ inches! Admission is free, the food is free and the fun is priceless. There’s a lot to love about a spring day spent at the lake with family and community friends. Have a young angler in the making in your family? Bring them out to Saxony Farm Lake in May

Informational sessions on retirement living, concerts, open houses, dinners and holiday celebrations were among the many community events held across our independent living locations this year. The events brought residents and community members together to connect and talk about the many benefits that a worry-free lifestyle offers. We are planning our 2023 calendar now and you can look forward to several opportunities to learn more about each of our five retirement communities –  Concordia of the South Hills, Concordia Village of Tampa, Highpointe at Rebecca, Concordia at Cabot and Concordia at Sumner – in the coming year!

Related: Concordia Retirement Living Residents Find Joy in Gardening

In what has become a Christmas tradition on the Concordia at Cabot campus, over 400 guests spent a December evening in Bethlehem with us to celebrate the birth of Jesus at our annual walk-through Live Nativity. Retirement living residents, employees and friends of the Concordia family helped to bring the biblical story to life. In between three performances, attendees were treated to delightful Christmas music from member churches and youth groups while warming up inside with hot cocoa and cookies. We will host the 10th annual Concordia at Cabot’s Live Nativity on Dec. 10, 2023 – please join us!

Related: A Christmas Video Message from Concordia (2022)

Fundraisers and Friendraisers
We welcomed over 180 golfers to the Treesdale Golf and Country Club in July to participate in Concordia’s 18th Annual Golf Classic. The event was one of our best by “par” and over $135,000 was raised to support one of the most important pieces of Concordia’s mission, the Good Samaritan Endowment Fund. The fund underwrites confidential charitable care for residents and patients who have limited or exhausted financial means. Golfers – don’t “fore-get” to save the date: July 10, 2023.

In August, our hospice companies, Good Samaritan Hospice, Concordia Hospice of Washington and Concordia-IRMC VNA, hosted three butterfly release events in their respective communities for friends and family in remembrance of those who have gone before them. The events benefit our hospice mission of caring for those facing a life-limiting illness or preparing to pass into God’s glory and support our bereavement programs. The events are open to anyone who would like to honor the lives of their loved ones. Dates for 2023 will be announced on our events page in the coming months!

Related: Over 1,500 Butterflies Released in Remembrance of Loved Ones

Our first-ever Power of the Purse event, a purse bash to benefit the Good Samaritan Hospice Youth Bereavement Care (YBC) program, was clutch – slang-pun intended! Over 300 in-person and virtual attendees joined us to support the mission of YBC and enjoyed a glamorous evening at The Mansion, a historic and elegant entertainment facility in Butler, Pa. We are excited to announce that the Power of the Purse will return in 2023! And, if you have a heart for fashion and fundraising, you won’t want to miss the return of Concordia’s Spring Fling Luncheon Fundraiser (formerly the Concordia Fashion Show) this spring!

The Concordia Family
Shennel Crissman, Concordia at Cabot LPN, was named the inaugural recipient of the Stephen W. Johnson Mission Award, Concordia’s highest employee honor, at a banquet and ceremony celebrating the award’s 31 finalists. The award was created by an employee-led committee to honor Concordia’s late Chairman of the Board of Directors, Stephen W. Johnson, who served at Concordia for 19 years before passing away in 2020. The award will preserve his memory and promote the recognition of our employees’ Christ-like hearts. Has one of Concordia’s employees made a remarkable difference in your life or the life of your loved one(s) that you will never forget? If so, please consider nominating them here.

Related: 2022 Stephen W. Johnson Mission Award Finalists Celebrated

Every year in May, Concordia has a blast celebrating our staff at every location and throughout all of our home and community services offices during Employee Appreciation Week – and 2022 was no exception! Our employees enjoyed themed dress down days, snacks, lunches, an end-of-week cookout and a gift of gratitude! It’s so important to us that our team knows how much we appreciate the work they do all year long and the celebratory week is just one of the many ways we say thank you.

Related: Employee Appreciation Week 2022: A Letter from the President

In 2022, the Concordia Family supported communities in need with organizational-wide mission events that included a humanitarian aid drive to support those affected by the conflict in Ukraine, a back-to-school supplies drive benefiting underserved children in our western Pa. and Tampa, Fla. communities and serving alongside our friends at member church St. Luke Lutheran Church in Cabot at their annual house build. Read the latest issue of Faith in Caring to learn more about the international and domestic missions Concordia supported this year, along with an upcoming mission that will bring a free pop-up medical clinic to Butler County in November 2023.

Stay current with happenings at a Concordia near you by visiting our upcoming events page and connecting with us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter!


Founded in 1881, Concordia Lutheran Ministries is a faith-based, CARF-CCAC-accredited Aging Services Network and recipient of the inaugural Pennsylvania Department of Aging Excellence in Quality Care Award. As one of the largest nonprofit senior care providers in the country, the organization serves 50,000 people annually through in-home care and inpatient locations in western PA, eastern OH and Tampa, FL.

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