The Daly Hospital Foundation’s annual Gala fundraiser has morphed into an on-line event this year. According to the Foundation’s Director Staci Duce, work on the annual fundraising event is actually a year-long process as the effort to collect auction items begins quite early, almost from when the last auction was over.
“We didn’t want to just sit on those items and plan for next year so we decided to put the auction up on the internet,” said Duce. In fact, pushing the money it raises through to its final goal as quickly and efficiently as possible has always been and remains a central tenet of the Foundation.
Duce said that the hospital was hit hard at the beginning of this pandemic and forced to suspend many of its common operations as it adjusted to the new situation. While the foundation has always been geared toward dispersing its funds as quickly as possible, the need for fast cash flow has been aggravated severely by the new demands placed upon the hospital and its staff.
The foundation has set a lofty goal of raising $50,000 through its planned auction this year and hospital staff have stepped up to help make the auction a success by offering auction items themselves.
“We encouraged them to donate items that would show us something about who they are and what they enjoy doing on the regular time off,” said Duce. As a result, they have gotten some pretty revealing gift items. You can tell, for instance, that the Family Practice physicians are horse lovers. An anesthesiologist at the hospital who spends his spare time keeping bees is donating some jars of honey. One of the surgeons is donating a lawn mowing job.
“Dr. Woods likes to decompress after surgery by going out and mowing his lawn,” said Duce. “He is known in the neighborhood for not stopping at his property boundary. His neighbors appreciate it in fact. So, he has decided to donate a lawn mowing job to the highest bidder.”
One donation that has drawn a lot of attention is the pallet of Lucky Charms cereal donated by Dr. Keldon Carroll, a new orthodontist who took over Dr. Silcher’s business in Hamilton. Carroll said that one thing people should know about him is how much he likes to eat cold cereal. The cereal is also good for other uses such as showering people with the confetti-like but edible foodstuff.
Hospital staff also contribute cash to the foundation through a payroll deduction option. Last year the foundation raised over $500,000. Donations can be earmarked to go to separate funds, according to Duce. They can be earmarked for laboratory testing costs, to have negative air pressure systems installed in surgery rooms, assistance with the costs of the new Viral Clinic, or spent on the hospital’s Telehealth program.
“It really makes a difference at the hospital when it is facing so many new needs and expenses never known before this pandemic,” said Duce. Although the hospital’s regular services were crippled for a couple of months as they adjusted to the new situation, they are now back in operation and working full steam handling both COVID-19 cases and continuing to serve their regular patients.
“We are recovering,” said Duce, “and so long as people continue to use the local services and the team continues to work harder and smarter, and donors continue to support the Foundation, in the end we are going to be stronger for it.”
The on-line auction is set to begin when the annual Gala would have started, on July 11 at 5 p.m. Bidding on items will continue to July 16 at 10 p.m. and winners will be notified the next day. To join the auction, go to 32auctions.com/dhf. You may join the bidding at any time during the five-day auction event.
To donate to the foundation outside the auction, simply go to www.mdmh.org/gives. Donations may be earmarked to any special fund such as the new Caregiver Relief fund, or the Hospital fund, the Hospice fund, or the Colors of Cancer fund.
