The Friends of St. Anthony’s are proud to announce that they have recently surpassed the 2007 Annual Appeal goal of $125,000 by raising over $235,000 in support of The Healing Garden.

This achievement was possible, thanks to an initial grant of $100,000 from the Hospital Sisters of St. Francis, a lead gift from the St. Anthony’s Auxiliary, and generous contributions from hospital family and community members. The Auxiliary held various fundraising events throughout the months of November and December to raise funds for their pledge of $30,000, such as purse, scrubs, and bake sales.

Tom Wright, Friends of St. Anthony’s chairperson, thanked all those who supported the hospital by contributing to this appeal. “All the gifts beyond our goal of $125,000 allows St. Anthony’s to enhance and possibly expand the setting of The Healing Garden,” he said. “The garden will offer a spiritual respite in the midst of physical ailments and difficulties, along with providing a peaceful, serene setting for patients’ families and hospital staff. Those who contributed generously are helping build a little bit of heaven here on earth.”

Donna Niemerg, Development Associate, expressed her gratitude to the hospital department representatives whose efforts in encouraging giving among hospital employees helped the Friends achieve this goal. “This achievement has been realized because of their hard work and efforts in getting the word out about the Annual Appeal.” The department representatives for each department are as follows:
Donna Aye, Emergency Services
Dennis Baker, Plant Services
Pete Bleeker, Physical Rehabilitation
Dana Chasteen, Materials
Debbie Fergus, Administration
Scott Fish, Cardiovascular Services
Mary Flach, Home Care
Carol Gapsis, Patient Care/Pastoral Care
Denise Hermann, Pharmacy
Kimberly Ingram, Women and Children’s Care
Vera Koester, Business Office
Brenda LaDew, Skilled Care
Susan Mellendorf, Radiation Oncology
Cindy Mietzner, Health Information
Chris Myers, Lab/Express Testing
Stacey Niebrugge and Jane Brummer, Surgical Services
Donna Niemerg, Community Relations
Barb Nyberg, Medical Care
Cheri Pearce, Intensive Care
Joan Printz, Diagnostic Imaging Services
Julie Soltwedel, Surgical Care
Paula Tolch and Annette Trigleth, Inpatient Support
Lucie Tuttle, Food and Nutrition
Sally Wilson, Quality Support
Nancy Wolf, Information Systems

Those who contributed to the Annual Appeal will be invited to the Donor Recognition Event being held in May during Hospital Week.

Arrangements are currently being made to meet with the landscape architect to plan the schematics and design of The Healing Garden.