Mount Evans Home Health Care & Hospice’s spirit of giving to the community has been preserved in a sculpture outside its building on Bergen Peak Drive.

The “Spirit of Giving” tree sculpture by artist Ted Wilson is dedicated to the volunteers who donate their time to help others, according to Sculpture Evergreen’s President Tricia Rosenthal.

“This is the right year to do that,” said Rosenthal of the sculpture that Sculpture Evergreen is purchasing for the Mount Evans offices. “The hospice has done tremendous work to comfort the people who didn’t have anybody who could come and see them (during the pandemic). This is our way of saying thank you for helping everybody through COVID-19.”

Sculpture Evergreen is hoping to raise $45,000 to help pay for the sculpture, which joins another permanent sculpture called “Peace” on the hospice grounds.

“Spirit of Giving” originally was named “Tree” and stood outside the Evergreen post office for two years. It honors both everyone who embodies the spirit of giving and the memory of Susan Stearns, a community volunteer who died in January.

Stearns spent 25 years on the Mount Evans board of directors and worked part-time as a gift manager, and she also was involved with Blue Spruce Kiwanis, Team Evergreen, Evergreen Sustainability Alliance, Mountain Area Land Trust, Center for the Arts Evergreen and Bootstraps Inc.

“The tree represents her and her philosophy of giving,” Keri Jaeger, Mount Evans’ executive director, explained. “She could talk the talk because she walked the walk. She was a special lady.”

Jaeger said she was pleased to work with Sculpture Evergreen to add the piece to the Mount Evans property.

“From our standpoint, it’s an honor to have the sculpture because if all began with Susan Stearns,” Jaeger said, who noted that Stearns had worked before her death to bring the sculpture to Mount Evans. “The sculpture is a reflection of the entire community.”

The sculpture will be surrounded by benches and a small garden to become a place for people to reflect, Jaeger said.

“The tree represents qualities that characterize our special place here in Colorado: strength, support and deep roots; creation, growth and vitality,” the Sculpture Evergreen website says.