A small example of what was offered at the annual jewelry sale at HAMC

The Heart of America Medical Center Auxiliary held their annual $5 Jewelry Sale this past Wednesday and Thursday. The event was sponsored by Masquerade Fundraising, which provides the jewelry each year and is the top $5 jewelry sale in the country.

Representatives from Masquerade Fundraising, Jamie Bernhardt and Kathy Dohm, travel to hospital fundraisers in North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota and Montana.

“It’s fun,” Bernhardt said. “The camaraderie we build with the hospitals is great. We get to meet so many wonderful people.”

The sale offered items such as necklaces, bracelets, rings, watches, scarves, gloves, bags, wallets, men’s sporting gear and more.

“There really is something for everyone,” Dohm said.

All proceeds from the sale went towards funding for a new hospital gift shop floor. St. Michel Furniture will be supplying the carpeting for the gift shop.

As the Auxiliary’s kick-off fundraiser, the popular event has been benefiting the community for over 10 or more years, according to the Auxiliary Board.

“We really just do this for the community,” Marge Heilman, board member, said. “Plus, we have such a great group of ladies to work with [on the board].”

Other Auxiliary Board members that helped with set-up for the sale are Bev Paul, Laurie Odden, and Linda Kay Duchscher, who serves as the Community Relations and Development Director.

There are 11 board members total.

“The Auxiliary is actually two different things,” Duchscher said. “It encompasses the volunteers that do the hands-on [activities] with the patients of our facilitiesand then anything that they might need over at the clinic. Then, also, the other side of it is the fundraising that we do.”

Auxiliary fundraisers include events such as the $5 Jewelry Sale, the Fall Bazaar, the Salad Luncheon, Singing Valentines, and more. Every dollar the Auxiliary makes through its fundraising efforts goes back into Heart of America Medical Center.

In addition to the Auxiliary providing funds for new carpeting in the gift shop, the board just approved $20,000 to have the tub rooms redone at HAMC and $3,600 to purchase matching bed spreads for all of the care center rooms.

“We just do the little things that the facility does not have in the capital budget,” Duchscher said.

Duchscher expressed her thanks and gratitude for the Auxiliary volunteers, who help with bingo, work in the gift shop, work as greeters, help with church services, deliver the paper, and play games and cards with the residents. “This community, the people who work on this board, they put a lot of time and effort into it, and I don’t know if people realize sometimes the people who just step up and do so much for the community,” she said. “It’s an amazing community.”

Duchscher explained that while both the Auxiliary and the Good Samaritan Health Services Foundation help HAMC both financially, they are quite different.

The Auxiliary is driven by volunteerism and is dedicated to assist with hospitality functions and activities. They also provide additional help and support through fundraising efforts.

The Foundation, on the other hand, is a fundraising entity providing support to the hospital for equipment and services that cannot be achieved in the normal budgeting process. This area is also supported by charitable contributions and seeks out grants to support the organization.

“I have an amazing Auxiliary board. I work with an amazing Foundation board. With the Auxiliary, we make the money to give the money back, wherever it’s needed. With the Foundation, we are building to make sure that this facility is always here,” Duchscher said.