The TWIG (Together With Important Goals) groups of Hocking Valley Community Hospital Auxiliary recently presented the hospital with $31,500 from fundraising efforts over the past two years.
On behalf of the Auxiliary, Ginger Johnson, 2022 President, accepted a check for $12,000 from TWIG II, a check for $15,000 from TWIG IV and a check for $4,500 from TWIG VI. These funds are raised throughout the year from individual TWIG projects such as ham sales, jewelry and flower sales, raffles, bake sales and Chinese auctions. Funds are then used to support HVCH with hospital renovations or capital purchases when requested.
“You all work tirelessly to support our hospital and this is our chance to gather, celebrate, and thank you for all that you do,” Johnson said. “As we all know, these past few years have been tough to do fundraising and it has been hard to ease back into, but your efforts are appreciated.”
Stacey Gabriel, HVCH CEO & President, joined in thanking the TWIG members for all their hard work, dedication and donations.
“Thank you for the great work you do to support the patients of our hospital. These donations will be put to good use,” Gabriel said.
During the past year, the Auxiliary donated $25,000 to assist with the purchase of a simulation mannequin which will further staff education. The mannequin is a multipurpose patient simulator specifically designed to simulate lifelike cases across a broad range of clinical areas including pre-hospital, ED, OR, ICU, PACU, med-surg, and more.
2023 Auxiliary officers were installed including: Betty Jo Downs, Vice President, and Ginger Johnson, Treasurer. Nominations are still being accepted for Auxiliary President.
To close the evening’s celebration, CEO Stacey Gabriel presented the Elly Crow Award to Kathy Stiverson. Stiverson has been a TWIG VI member for more than 20 years, serving as secretary/treasurer of the Auxiliary since 2007.
“She has helped bake hundreds, if not thousands, of cookies for TWIG bake sales using her family’s recipes from their time owning Walsh’s Bakery in Logan. Every year she could be found at the Foundation’s auction check in table, volunteering to help guests register and greet them with a smile. She has helped with Chinese auctions, car shows, poker runs, ham sales, raffles and much more to help raise funds and support for the hospital,” Gabriel said.
Kathy retired from Job & Family Services and volunteers as a member St. John Catholic Church and for other community events like Lilyfest. She has been married to her husband Chris for 53 years, the couple has 3 children and 9 grandchildren.
The “Elly” Award is given to a HVCH Auxiliary TWIG member every year. The award is named after Elly Crow, a TWIG II member for over 45 years who donated more than 25,883 hours of her time to the hospital, patients and community. Elly also was instrumental in creating many special events and raising thousands of dollars for the hospital.