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If last Saturday’s “Levis and Lace” event at the Fort Worth Sheraton ballroom is any indicator, the Texas economy – at least around Azle – is on the comeback trail.
All 400 tickets to Texas Health Azle Auxiliary’s third annual western chic gala sold out, and the event raised more than $75,000 to help furnish and equip the hospital’s new Education and Outpatient Services facility.
A healthy crowd wined, dined and donated, enjoying the menu of beef tenderloin with apricot and veal demi glace, chili-dusted chicken with roasted corn relish and special cake potatoes. As they sampled a dessert of cheesecake with strawberry topping, donors reached deep into their pockets and shelled out $12,160 in a “three-minute challenge” that – when matched by the Auxiliary and again by the hospital – will bring in a total of $37,480. That challenge money has already been designated to purchase a bone density machine.
During the live auction, donors reached even deeper and purchased two “elegant dinners for eight” prepared by Michelle Rider and Debi Meyerhoeffer – to the tune of $5,000 – along with a “personalized trip to San Francisco” for $6,000 and six nights in Santa Fe, New Mexico for $5,500 and more that totalled $24,250. Silent auction totals and other donations have yet to be tallied but the event committee estimates that after everything has been paid they will net between $75,000 and $80,000 – well above this year’s goal of $50,000. Proceeds will help provide the hospital’s new 5,000 square-foot Outpatient Services and Education Center with clinical equipment and advanced learning technology. Over the past three years Texas Health Azle – one of 14 Texas Health Resource hospitals in the DFW Metroplex – has experienced almost a 50 percent increase in outpatient services due to rapid growth in Azle and the surrounding communities. The hospital has concentrated on meeting those needs with the addition of outpatient services that include digital mammography and pain management. The new outpatient facility, which should begin to rise in the next few weeks on the site of the old Lester’s Pharmacy, is specifically designed for services such as psychiatry and vascular screening and includes a state-of-the-art learning center with flexible classrooms for community and health education classes, support groups and staff training. Aided by community volunteers such as the Auxiliary, the hospital has a 54-year tradition of serving the community. When the traditions come in the form of dinner, dancing and fun, it’s just icing on the cake. |
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