(Spirit Lake)– A major fundraising event for the Lakes Regional Healthcare Foundation is just around the corner. Sonja Hamm, the foundation’s Executive Director, tells KUOO news they’ll be holding their annual “Grape Escape” tasting event Friday, February 7th at The Roof Garden in Arnolds Park with food being catered by the Hi-Lo Club…
“It’s a great night of fabulous food, some wine tasting, we’ve got bourbon tasting, prosecco, and then just of course celebrating all the great things in the community and how Lakes Regional Healthcare is part of that. It’s going to be a fun evening and like I said a great chance to get out of the house in the wintertime.”
There will also be a live auction and entertainment…
“We usually have about seven or eight fun items, something that gets people to do some things maybe they haven’t tried before. Anywhere from a trip to Florida, we’ve got a boat ride with Mau Marine, we’ve got Iowa Hawkeye tickets, just to name a couple of those things. And then this year we have added a little extra something and that’s Felix and Fingers Dueling Pianos. So we had the opportunity to add a little bit of entertainment to the evening.”
Tickets are $150 each and can be purchased by calling 336-8791 or by clicking here. Hamm says they’re also looking for table sponsors…
“We’ve got a table sponsor that’s $2,500. It seats for eight people and it’s really the only way to reserve a table at the event so we’re really encouraging businesses to come out, maybe bring some of the team or maybe you’ve got some colleagues and partners of business that you want to treat to that night, so we’re encouraging those sponsorships of tables. But then we’ve got a couple of other levels, too. We’ve got anywhere from like I said the $2,500 down to $500 level of sponsorships. And anytime we get those sponsorships it certainly helps us kind of peel down the cost of what it is to have events like this and even more dollars can go to support the efforts of the foundation.”
Hamm says the foundation plays an important role for Lakes Regional Healthcare…
“We’ve done things in the surgery center and the birthing center. We’ve gotten to help with some milage clubs at the schools to do some diabetes prevention. We’ve gotten to help with scholarships for those heading into the healthcare careers. So we’ve been able to touch a lot of different areas in the hospital and how that helps the community. You know, emergency services would be another good example. We’ve been working on some power stair chairs that help out the ambulance program get up and down those stairs in people’s homes when they have to address an emergency. So we’ve been fortunate to be able to touch a lot of different corners and we’ve always had great response from our community. We’re pretty fortunate to have such a supportive area here.”
