An Almost Presidential Visit Provides a Perfect Day

Posted on Tuesday August 1, 2017 in Gift of a Day

Crossroads Hospice & Palliative Care patient Ruth Sommers, 87, has always had a crush on Donald Trump – long before he even dreamt of entering the political arena.

“We figured right away that we wouldn’t be able to get the President of the United States to come out and pay a visit, so we did the next best thing,” said Kimberly Mumper, Volunteer Manager for Crossroads.

Kimberly, in coordination with the social worker at Ruth’s residence facility, reached out to comedian Bob DiBuono, to help make Ruth’s dream of a perfect day come true. DiBuono has developed a sizeable following of admirers for his on-the-button impersonation of the current president and, in fact, has appeared in his Trump persona on Gotham Live, MTV, E, CNN, Fox’s Red Eye and The View.

It’s All About Entertainment

DiBuono was happy to oblige.

“I actually do a lot of appearances like this,” DiBuono said. “It’s a fun thing for me and it’s something the people always seem to enjoy.”

“It doesn’t matter what your politics are, either,” DiBuono said. “This isn’t about Donald Trump the politician. It’s really just about him as a character. So we try to keep the politics out of it as much as we can. The important thing is to be there to provide some entertainment for the ultimate gift recipient and her friends and give everyone something to laugh about.”

A Perfect Day

DiBuono strode in on the appointed hour in full Trump regalia to the strains of “Hail to the Chief,” replete in his signature “Make America Great Again” baseball cap and orange-tinted makeup and greeted his special guest a hug and a thumbs-up for the cameras.

“He put on a great show,” said Kimberly. “You could tell Ruth really enjoyed it. She and her friends laughed throughout the entire routine. And the special one-on-one recognition she got from ‘President Trump’ really put a twinkle in her eye. It really seemed to be a perfect day for her and that’s what it’s really all about.”

The effort is part of Crossroads’ ultimate gift program. Its goal is to bring to life a patient’s vision of what the perfect day might be.

The Gift of a Day program is designed to give each patient the chance to have one perfect day. Each event is as unique as the individual patients.

Read more Gift of a Day stories.

To learn more about how Crossroads supports terminally-ill patients, please call 1-888-564-3405.