Beebe Auxiliary gives $325,000 to Beebe Medical Foundation
What is the big deal about 1916?
Anyone traversing the Cape Region roadways during the traffic-filled summer months and still-congested-but-not-as-bad shoulder and off-seasons may wonder why some celebrate a year that came and went more than a century ago.
That year just happens to be the year Beebe Healthcare was founded, ushering in a new era of patient care along the southern Delaware beaches. Two decades later, in 1936, the Beebe Auxiliary was founded with a mission to promote and advocate for the welfare of Beebe and its patients.
The members making up the organization provide volunteer services to Beebe and other providers in the Beebe Medical Group, and donate money to help advance care and treatment – a lot of money. Since 1936, more than $3 million has been donated from the auxiliary to Beebe Medical Foundation. On June 29, Beebe Auxiliary donated its largest one-time sum ever.
During a lunch catered by Lighthouse Catering at the University of Delaware’s Virden Center, Beebe Auxiliary President C. Wendell Alfred and Treasurer Nancy Tartaglione presented a $325,000 check to Beebe Healthcare President and CEO Dr. David Tam and Beebe Medical Foundation President Tom Protack.
Despite the record-setting donation, there is a growing concern from members of the Beebe Auxiliary – membership. For $10 a year, volunteers can become members of the Beebe Auxiliary and play either an active or inactive role. Active members volunteer and work in the hospitals or other areas of need to provide support for necessary operations, while inactive members advocate for the auxiliary. More and more active members are becoming inactive, and there are not enough new members signing up to replace those lost hours.
More information about volunteering or becoming a member of the Beebe Auxiliary is available at beebehealthcare.org/patients-visitors/volunteer/beebe-auxiliary. New members are welcomed and encouraged to engage at meetings held the first Friday of October, November, February and March.
The $325,000 will go toward the John J. Williams Highway campus and other areas of need throughout the Beebe Healthcare system.
