BRMC Silver Ball Gala raises nearly $60,000 for good causes

Dillon Dixon, and the Dillon Dixon Band, provided entertainment for the Sixth Annual Gala, held at The Arena in Corbin Saturday.

About $60,0000 was raised this year to help fund programs for the needy thanks to Saturday’s Silver Ball Gala, the popular annual fundraising event sponsored by Baptist Regional Medical Center in support of its Community Health Services initiative.

About 250 people attended BRMC’s Sixth Annual Silver Ball Gala, titled "A Night in Paradise." It was held at the David L. Williams Southeast Kentucky Ag and Expo Complex in Corbin.

"Sixty thousand dollars will buy a lot of groceries and prescriptions for those who need them," said BRMC President and CEO John Henson.

The gala is a formal event that consists of dinner, silent and live auctions, and musical entertainment. It is the creation of BRMC Community Service Coordinator Lee Richardson and was started as a way to fund the hospital’s outreach initiatives. Those efforts range from providing meals to the poor and elderly to sponsoring fitness improvement programs in the community. It is officially called the FOCUS program, because its intent is to "focus" on the needs of the community that BRMC serves.
In the past year, FOCUS has provided:

• 508 prescriptions to 125 patients;

• Provided 1,030 home-delivered meals to seniors;

• Provided 420 meals at the Corbin Senior Center;

• Sponsored the Lifeline emergency service for five senior adults;

• Sponsored and participated in numerous health related programs including Body Recall, Senior Day, the Senior Games, Diabetes Smart, Germ Busters, Fitness Five, Dare to Compare, Kroger Senior Day, various health fairs.

The Silver Ball Gala, a formal event, is an integral part of funding for all of FOCUS’s programs.

In past years, the Gala raised between $50,000 to $75,000. Proceeds from this year’s event topped $63,000.

"All of the  money raised is certainly for worthy causes," Henson said. "It is for those who are less fortunate than the people that attended the gala. The whole intent is to just give something back to the community, but it takes money to do these things. The Silver Ball Gala is a big part of that."

The assistance programs are all income and need based, Henson said.

Those in attendance this year were treated to a performance by the Dillion Dixon Band.

All of the money raised at the event is through admission fees and proceeds of the auctions. Of the total, $6,700 was garnered through the sale of five special items in a live auction: an Apple Ipad 2, Dinner for eight prepared by a chef, a weekend house boat rental at Grove Marina, a photography package by Kat’s Eye Photography and a Great Smokey Mountain Labor Day Getaway.

All of the items auctioned were donated by local businesses and individuals.