Baptist Health Paducah Auxiliary donates its largest-ever gift for cancer maternity care
In honor of National Volunteer Appreciation Week, Baptist Health Paducah salutes its Auxiliary, whose 85 active members contribute more than 25,000 volunteer hours each year and raise funds for hospital projects.
In honor of National Volunteer Appreciation Week, Baptist Health Paducah salutes its Auxiliary, whose 85 active members contribute more than 25,000 volunteer hours each year and raise funds for hospital projects.
The Auxiliary recently contributed its largest-ever financial donation to the hospital for cancer and maternity care through the “Celebrating Miracles, Transforming Lives” $10 million comprehensive capital campaign. The gift will be acknowledged with their name on the new Regional Cancer Care Center’s healing garden and the Mother & Baby Care waiting room.
“Our Auxiliary volunteers are the first faces many people see when they enter the hospital,” volunteer manager Greg Holtgrewe said, “and their fundraising activities, such as the gift shop, support many functions of the hospital.”
Auxiliary volunteers assist hospital personnel, patients and visitors in more than 14 areas, including information desks, transport, the chaplains' office and various waiting rooms. In addition, the Auxiliary operates the gift shop and sponsors LIFELINE, a residential emergency response system. Through their fundraising efforts, the Auxiliary has been involved with every new addition to Baptist Health Paducah.
“Our volunteers are a vital part of the Baptist Health family,” said William A. Brown, hospital president. “We are grateful every day for their hours of service to our patients, as well as for their collective financial efforts to support the hospital’s growth.”
Auxiliary president Ralph Prince, a volunteer for 20 years, said the Auxiliary contributed to the campaign to set an example of giving to projects that benefit the community.
“Everything we make goes back to the hospital,” Prince said. “You give and you get. We enjoy working because it makes us feel good, and we’re helping other people. It is a way of ministering to other people and sharing the love of Christ.”
Roy Lowdenback, executive director of the Foundation, said the Auxiliary’s recent gift exemplifies the hospital’s strong history of philanthropy. “What started as a vision to open our hospital in 1953 was brought to life, thanks to a group of dedicated volunteers donating to build something they believed in,” he said. “To continue to have this strong volunteer support more than 60 years later is something we are very proud of.”
For more information on how you can become a member of the Auxiliary, phone 270.575.2602. To make a donation to the capital campaign, contact the Foundation at 270.575.2871 or visit SupportBaptistHealth.org/Paducah.