T-R PHOTO BY MIKE DONAHEY - Members of the UnityPoint Health-Marshalltown Auxiliary are pictured displaying quits and other items recently near the “Tribute to Caregivers” statue not far from the hospital entrance at the downtown campus. The group has announced a Nov. 1 fundraiser which will feature quilts made by Central Iowans, among other items. Proceeds will help the auxiliary purchase wheelchairs for the Medical Park and downtown campus.

This Thursday is the 66th anniversary of the UnityPoint Health-Marshalltown Auxiliary’s founding.

And what better way to celebrate an anniversary than hosting an event the charitable group is renown?

The featured attraction is a live quilt auction at the Medical Park directly across from Marshalltown Community College.

Gift baskets and other items will be available via silent auction.

It is free-of charge and open to the public.

The excitement begins at 6 p.m.

“We will have a guest auctioneer, gift baskets, a silent auction, refreshments, and more, auxiliary member Susan Eberhart of Montour said.

The mission: Raise funds to purchase wheelchairs.

“Our previous effort netted approximately $6,000, and those funds were used to purchase items specifically benefiting patient care,” member Josette Peterson said.

Helping the auxiliary celebrate were the talents of many central Iowa quilters who submitted their work.

The top three will be rewarded.

Best of show earns $500, second place $250, and third place $150.

For nearly seven decades, proceeds from auxiliary fundraising initiatives have been used to enhance patient care, ranging from new ambulances, to free mammography’s for non-insured residents to nursing scholarships.

The auxiliary also sponsors an annual CIH employee recognition event.

Its roots go back to the Evangelical Deaconess Hospital Auxiliary, established Nov. 1, 1952, according to Times-Republican archives.

Later, the Mercy St. Thomas Hospital Auxiliary, formed Sept. 5, 1952, joined forces with The Evangelical Hospital’s Auxiliary (formerly Evangelical Deaconess Hospital Auxiliary) in 1970, when the two hospitals merged to become the Marshalltown Area Community Hospital.

In 1985, MACH became MMSC, and the organization was renamed MMSC Auxiliary.

Later, MMSC was re-named Central Iowa Healthcare, and the group became Friends of CIH.

CIH became UnityPoint Health Marshalltown May 1, 2017, and the group was re-named as UnityPoint Health Marshalltown Auxiliary.

Other members are Becky Caster, Christina Cheville, Debi Estabrook, Karen Giarratano, Rena Holmes

Judy Lindholm, Anne Paullus, Barb Rasmussen and Peggy Schoer.

For more information contact UnityPoint Health-Marshalltown Volunteer Coordinator Nora Byers, 641-754-5151, or Eberhart, 641-751-5507.

——

Contact Mike Donahey at

641-753-6611 or

mdonahey@timesrepublican.com