Mercy Health-St. Rita’s Volunteer Auxiliary President Sue Dew, left, and Volunteer and Auxiliary Resources Director Sara Heitmeyer, right, show off their pledge check for $1 million to the Birthplace at St. Rita’s. The auxiliary will raise those funds over the next five years.
Craig Kelly | The Lima News
LIMA — With one donation pledge now complete, the Mercy Health-St. Rita’s Volunteer Auxiliary is now moving on to its next cause.
During the auxiliary’s volunteer appreciation luncheon Thursday at 19 Hawthorne, Volunteer Auxiliary President Sue Dew and Mercy Health-St. Rita’s Director of Volunteer and Auxiliary Resources Sara Heitmeyer presented hospital President Ronda Lehman and Mercy Health Foundation of Greater Lima President Sara Ambroza a check for $295,000, the final installment of a $1 million pledge the auxiliary made in 2019 for the St. Rita’s Graduate Medical Education Building.
The donations come through a variety of programs, Dew said.
“We have various fundraisers throughout the year,” she said. “Recently, we just had our Fall Festival where we had lots of crafts and food items. Also, one of our big fundraisers is the Holiday Street Fair, which is coming up in early December. We also have things going on throughout the year, and we have our thrift shop and our gift shop raising funds for volunteers.”
During the luncheon, Dew and Heitmeyer also presented a pledge check of $1 million to the Birthplace at St. Rita’s to announce its next five-year fundraiser project. For Heitmeyer, this announcement represents only a small part of what the volunteers do at the medical center.
“They are the heart and soul of St. Rita’s,” she said. “They are the first people you see when you walk in the doors. They are the ones coming to bring items of comfort. They are the ones dropping off flowers, helping behind the scenes with sorting, stocking and paperwork, all of those things.”
Anyone over the age of 14 can volunteer at Mercy Health-St. Rita’s in a variety of capacities. To learn more about volunteer opportunities, call 419-226-9038, go to mercy.com and search for “volunteer” or email [email protected].
