COLUMBIA, Md. (WJZ)– Millions of Americans turn to hospice for ailing family members.

Now, as Mike Schuh reports, the hospice service in Howard County is raising money to pay for their new care center.

By the time someone needs to be at the new Gilchrist Center in Columbia, the end is near. So more families and doctors are turning to hospice.

“Doctors realized there was a need. Why put people through suffering to the very end?” Cliff Hughes of the Gilchrist fundraiser said.

Hughes raises money for Gilchrist Hospice Care.

“It is Sunday, this Sunday and the tickets are $85,” he said.

For $85, you get a ticket to taste the best from 25 Howard County restaurants.

For instance, the venerable Crab Shanty is changing its name to the Shanty Grille. So their chef wants to show off the new menu.

“They’re going to come here, they’re going to taste this. It’s going to be so good, they’re going to have to come back and try some of the other things on the menu,” Charles Warner, chef at Shanty Grille, said.

A restaurant like this is besieged with donation requests– hundreds each year. But the third generation co-owner says the Gilchrist help was easy to give.

“It’s great! We love being involved,” said Jeanne King, co-owner of The Shanty Grille. “My father-in-law started 26 years ago being involved in hospice, and we’ve grown from there.”

In all, the food and an auction should raise $200,000.

“To benefit the Gilchrist Center here,” explained Hughes. “We have a $2.5 million fund campaign to pay for the one-time construction costs, as well as operating expenses.”

As part of our Continuing Community Commitment, WJZ is sponsoring the Taste & Auction of Howard County.

Last year, the Gilchrist Centers in Maryland served more than 600 patients and their families.

For more information about this event, click here.