From staff reports
The Beaufort Memorial Foundation’s 36th annual Valentine Ball on Saturday, Feb. 8 brought the community together in downtown Beaufort for a night of celebration and support for lifesaving, innovative care.
The event, held at Tabby Place in downtown Beaufort, followed the long-standing tradition of pre-ball dinner parties beforehand. Ball attendees danced the night away to live music performed by Charlotte-based band “Color the Night,” while also enjoying cocktails, desserts and participating in a silent auction.
This year’s ball, co-chaired by Becky and Patrick Cunningham and Drs. Jennifer Wallace and Aaron Sarathy, aimed to raise more than $200,000 for the Foundation’s Vision Campaign – a $10 million, five-year goal that will go toward advancements in three different areas: expanding access to quality health care, establishing innovative health care delivery systems through partnerships and growing a strong workforce.
“The Beaufort Memorial Foundation is so grateful for the support of the community and the generosity of its donors during this year’s Valentine Ball,” Beaufort Memorial Foundation Chief Development Officer Kim Yawn said. “We cannot thank our supporters enough for the role they play in shaping the future of health care throughout the Lowcountry.”
The Vision Campaign is a driving force behind several ongoing Beaufort Memorial expansion projects including the construction of the Bluffton Community Medical Campus (BCMC) in the southern part of the county, which will provide a full-service emergency department, imaging services like X-ray, MRI and CT technology, laboratory services and an outpatient surgery center complete with four surgical suites.
“It’s amazing to see the community support for both the Beaufort Memorial Foundation and the hospital’s mission to deliver innovative health care solutions and improve accessibility to high-quality, patient-centered care,” Beaufort Memorial President and CEO Russell Baxley said. “This support is critical for Beaufort Memorial as a nonprofit hospital, and we’re extremely grateful for each and every one of our donors.”
Since the event began in 1989, the Valentine Ball has raised more than $10 million to support major hospital initiatives, such as the ongoing renovations to the Beaufort Memorial Surgical Pavilion, the establishment of a state-of-the-art education center at Beaufort Memorial and a revamp of the hospital’s Cochrane Heart Center, just to name a few.
