Records show that the Auxiliary held an elegant ball in 1934 and raised $1,000 for the financially struggling hospital. Five years later, proceeds from another ball helped fund construction of a dormitory for nurses.
Over the years, the Auxiliary has raised millions of dollars by operating the hospital Gift Shop and, for many years, a canteen, and by conducting special fund-raising projects. But the Auxiliary’s signature event is the annual benefit ball.
The ball has typically helped the hospital build or expand patient care facilities or buy expensive new equipment. And while the equipment was usually used in diagnosis or treatment, proceeds from the 1959 ball enabled the hospital to install something that some considered just as important—air conditioning.
Balls of the early 1970s helped the Auxiliary fulfill its $100,000 pledge for a newborn intensive care unit. William Clarke, M.D., and David Bruton, M.D., were the pediatricians who set up and staffed the new unit for sick and premature infants.
“The Auxiliary provided Bill and me with the very latest in neonatal equipment,” Bruton recalls. “In fact, there were times when we had more modern equipment than they did at Duke or UNC, primarily because of the Auxiliary.”
The 1976 ball brought in $46,000, which helped the hospital establish a radiation therapy unit.
“Every year, we would raise more money with our hospital ball than they did in Charlotte or Raleigh,” says Emily Hewson, who served as Auxiliary president from 1975 to 1978. “That was astounding to me.”
In the 1990s, the hospital used ball-generated funds for a linear accelerator, ICU monitors, stereotactic breast biopsy equipment and a Mobile Health Services van. Between 1997 and 2001, the ball raised more than $1 million directed toward major construction projects including the new Emergency Department, Outpatient Department and Cancer Center.
Seventeen years ago, the Auxiliary gave $100,000 to help the hospital build a day care center for the children of hospital employees. Four years later, the Auxiliary gave $150,000 to renovate what is now called the Child Development Center. In 2002, the Auxiliary pledged ball proceeds—$1 million over five years—to help pay for the Center’s $3.4 million expansion and renovation project, which was completed in 2003.
The Auxiliary is now four years into that five-year commitment.
The black-tie Holiday Ball event will be held at The Carolina hotel in Pinehurst. The evening will begin with cocktails at 6:30 p.m. Dinner is at 8 p.m., followed by dancing to the music of the band, The Voltage Brothers.
“A lot of people think the ball is primarily for people associated with the hospital, but it isn’t,” says Rebecca Cummings, who, along with her husband, Robin Cummings, M.D., chairs this year’s event. “Typically, more people from outside the hospital community attend the ball, and everyone is welcome.”
More than 400 people are expected to attend the 2004 Ball. Tickets are $200 and may be purchased by calling 295-6098.
Auxiliary President Caroline Packard says the job of planning and organizing the ball, all done by volunteers, is a huge undertaking.
“Most people don’t realize the amount of work that goes into it,” she says. “But it’s something we love doing, and we really want to see it succeed. It’s a wonderful night. People have a great time, and they know they are supporting a good cause.”
While the Child Development Center has no direct impact on patient care, Packard says, it has a strong indirect effect on the quality of services at Moore Regional.
“Good child care enables good people to work at the hospital,” she says. “It helps the hospital attract and keep quality employees.”
Dick Broom is a freelance writer.
