The JMHS Foundation held their Annual BASH (Building a Superior Healthcare) on Friday, April 7 at 5:00 pm at the Dawson VFW. Those in attendance had a fun night celebrating the 70’s. The Foundation is implementing a new fundraising model which provided them with the opportunity to change the B.A.S.H. from their sole annual Fundraiser to more of a Thank you and Recognition event.
The night kicked off with a welcome and thank you from the Foundation Board Chair, Dean Solem. A short thank you video from Johnson Memorial Health Services staff followed. The video also included Dr. Phil Maus and Dennis and Ruby Anderson, who have made significant contributions to the “Caring for the Community” campaign.
Ken Club, Major Gifts Committee Chair, announced that through pledges and donations received to date, the JM Foundation has raised $807,533! This is a huge milestone as this pushes them over the halfway mark of their ambitious $1.4 million dollar goal.
Following Ken’s big announcement and the champagne toast, Dean Solem kicked off the gameshow “Let’s Make a Deal”, with Melissa Anderson as his wonderful assistant. During the game, people had the opportunity to choose between bonus bucks, what’s under the box and what’s behind the curtain. Behind the curtain were two short lip-sync acts from the 70’s. They included “I Got You Babe” by Sonny (Ken Club) and Cher (Mary Helgeson) and “Proud Mary” by Ike (Ken Club), Tina Turner (Kristyn Wicht) and her backup singers (Saundra Snobl and Stacey Lee). The final act of the night was a live performance by Randy Fjerkenstad and Dean Pearson singing “I Am a Rock” by Simon and Garfunkel.
Attendees enjoyed a delicious meal by Trish’s Katering which included stuffed pork chops, baked fish, garlic mashed potatoes, veri green beans, 70’s style jello and a chocolate fondue fountain. They were also able to try out 70’s style libations of the Harvey Wallbanger and Pink Lady.
Costume contest winners were Jay Kleven–best male and Teresa Dalman Schwegel–best female. Winners of this year’s raffle prizes were Vicki Lozinski with the YETI Tundra 45 Cooler ($350 Value), Laurel Peterson the Amazon Echo ($180 Value), and Jeff Thompson the $100 Cash!
A special thank you to everyone who purchased dinner and raffle tickets and to Dennis and Ruby Anderson and Dr. Maus for being in the video. Pictures of the BASH and the thank you video shown at the event are now on the JMHS Facebook Page and at www.jmhsmn.org. For more information on the “Caring for the Community” campaign, please contact Kristyn Wicht or Saundra Snobl in the JMHS Foundation Development Office at 320-769-4323.