Drs. Zoreen and Rafat Ansari to be honored with Helping Hands Award from Center for Hospice Care

Categories: People & Places.

Photo: Drs. Zoreen and Rafat Ansari

MISHAWAKA, IN – The Hospice Foundation (HF) and Center for Hospice Care (CHC) are excited to announce that Drs. Zoreen and Rafat Ansari will receive the 2020 Helping Hands Award on Wednesday, May 6th. The 36th Annual Helping Hands Award Dinner will begin at 6 p.m. at the Hilton Garden Inn, South Bend. The theme of this year’s dinner is 40/40 in 2020. This celebrates both the 40 years that Dr. Rafat Ansari has been serving patients as an oncologist at Michiana Hematology Oncology as well as Center for Hospice Care’s 40th anniversary of patient care. Co-chairing the 2020 dinner committee are Jennifer Ewing and Tom Housand.

Drs. Zoreen and Rafat Ansari were chosen for the award to recognize their unending support of their community through their acts of kindness and philanthropy. The Ansaris were integral in establishing autism advocacy and services in our community through the creation of the Sonya Ansari Center for Autism at LOGAN Center in South Bend. The center, named for their daughter, Sonya, provides a range of services, resources, and training for parents, educators and professions who face the daily realities of autism. Zoreen and Rafat presented a transformational gift to the University of Notre Dame to establish the Ansari Institute for Global Engagement with Religion in the Keough School of Global Affairs. The Institute focuses on religious studies and research, with worldwide engagement and education. Further demonstrating their commitment to education, Zoreen was essential in the creation of two elementary schools in Sindh, Pakistan. Rafat’s published work in Oncology care has provided guidance to the medical community at large. The compassionate care, support and guidance provided through their work as physicians has provided great comfort to innumerable patients and families of our community.

Zoreen and Rafat moved to South Bend in 1980 and raised their three children, Sarah, Adam and Sonya, in this community. Through their ongoing work and generosity, the Ansaris have created a ripple effect across the community and around the world. CHC and the Hospice Foundation are honored to recognize Drs. Ansari by sharing the wonderful ways they are improving the quality of living for so many.

About the Award:
Since 1985, the Helping Hands Award has honored individuals, groups, and families who demonstrate civic and charitable stewardship to improve the quality of living in the communities served by Center for Hospice Care. The award recognizes the recipients for exhibiting exceptional generosity, outstanding community achievements, direct financial support, or by motivating others to give. There is no requirement that the honoree(s) possess a close relationship – professional, voluntary, or philanthropic – with Center for Hospice Care.

About Center for Hospice Care:
Center for Hospice Care is a community-based, non-profit organization that works to improve the quality of living through hospice, home health, grief counseling and community education. Since 1980, Center for Hospice Care has kept its promise that no one eligible for hospice services in their nine-county service area will be turned away due to their inability to pay. The Hospice Foundation supports CHC’s mission by advancing projects, raising funds and creating educational programming that improve the quality of living in the communities we serve.

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