With almost 100 participants, the racquets were swinging and tennis balls were flying.  Children aged 5 – 14 enjoyed Quick Start Mini Tennis, a fast-paced, scaled-down, non-competitive tennis for over 2 hours.  Simultaneously, adult players (and some very talented teens) enjoyed friendly competition during the round robin tournament. 

Participants, volunteers, and observers battled for winning bids during a silent auction which featured prizes ranging from a beachfront condo for a long weekend to tickets to the Winston-Salem Open to Build-A-Bears.

Dinner, prepared by Raleigh Racquet Club’s own Chef Jason, was designed to give players the energy they would need for an evening of exertion.

If you missed out on the fun and excitement this year be sure to attend the 2013 Winter Chill Tennis Challenge next year!

Amy Peters, the Elf, was joined by Stephen Peters (President & CEO), Nick Kolbenschlag (Director of Operations and Service), Wendy Miller (Director of Business Advisory Services and Tax),  Terri Snyder (Executive Assistant), and Stacy Beane.

Foresters’ philosophy is to create opportunities for members to spend quality time together and volunteerism is one of the ways that they do that.  Each year, they choose charities that they can get involved with and this year, they chose the WakeMed Children’s Hospital.

Mollie Dowdy, Member Coordinator, organized the entire project and contacted the WakeMed Foundation earlier this year about their idea.  She delivered all 90 bears to WakeMed on December 6th.

I had the pleasure of joining Susan Davis, Child Life Specialist, to deliver a few of the bears to some very excited children.

In keeping with the type of celebration needed to properly honor fifty years of service to the community, this year’s gala welcomed nearly 1000 guests and featured dinner, live music, dancing and a show by legendary comedian, Jay Leno.

The evening was a beautiful and fitting tribute to those leaders and generous donors that have helped grow the Foundation and impact the quality and delivery of patient care at WakeMed. 

As Jay Leno closed his portion of the show, he surprised the room by announcing that he would donate $10,000 to the WakeMed Children’s Hospital.

Within a couple of weeks, Zebulon associates had well exceeded the goal of collecting 100 books, and already had 300 books that had been donated to give away!

WakeMed was delighted to host Johnnie Mann (HR Administator) and Diane Pascoe (Manager, Human Resources) at the Children’s Hospital to deliver the books in person.

Because of the great success of this book drive, Noël Group is now considering conducting a book drive for gently-used books to give to adults and other children at the hospital.

A big thank you to the associates that helped to put smiles on many little faces!

“J. McLaughlin is an established, classic American clothing brand featuring a flair for bold colors and signature prints. Since 1978, J. McLaughlin has reinvented American classics for women and men, with a nod to fashion and a wink to tradition. Brothers and founders Jay and Kevin McLaughlin share a passion for classical design and historical architecture…Inside and out, the stores are architecturally inspired by the community, evoking a vintage atmosphere and invitingly decorated with fine woodwork, antiques and comfortable furniture upholstered in bright florals, soft tweeds, animal prints and other distinctive fabrics.”   – www.northhillsraleigh.com

Date: November 10, 2011
Time: 5 – 8 pm
Location: J. McLaughlin, 4209-121 Lassiter Mill Road, Raleigh, NC

Tuesday, September 13
10 am to Noon
Alice Aycock Poe Center for Health Education
224 Sunnybrook Rd., Raleigh

For more details, visit WakeMed Voices.

Join us for the first-ever WakeMed Scrub Run, a 5K/10K event benefiting WakeMed Children’s Hospital, on October 1, in downtown Raleigh.

The Scrub Run offers something for everyone!  Competitive 5K and 10K races that accommodate both runners and walkers, a 100-Yard Kids dash, and fun for the whole family.

For more information, visit “WakeMed Scrub Run” on www.wakemed.org.

1. Keep Resources Local

WakeMed is the only hospital system in the Triangle based in Wake County. By keeping healthcare resources local, we can better address needs right here in our community.  Today, the majority of the profits generated by Rex are not being reinvested in our community.  Instead, our state’s hospital system is funneling Rex’ profits to Chapel Hill, inequitably subsidizing the mission of providing health care to North Carolina’s citizens.  This is happening when there are unmet healthcare needs right here in Wake County.

2. Reduce Duplication of Services

In today’s healthcare environment, it is critically important that we use our community’s limited resources as wisely as possible.  Therefore, we have to be careful not to duplicate services that already exist.  An example of this duplication is Rex’ proposal to build a multi-million dollar cardiovascular-focused patient tower on its main campus.  This service is already provided by WakeMed and, if approved, the cardiovascular-tower would be the fourth heart center in the Triangle and the second in Wake County.   A combined WakeMed-Rex system would enable us to add resources that the community needs and not spend millions of dollars to simply duplicate services. Wouldn’t it be better if those resources were dedicated to new locations and services in our community to enhance access and care?

3. Better Address Societal Healthcare Issues Facing our Community

A combined system will help us address complex issues related to inmate care, mental health and care for the uninsured and low-income residents in our community.  Today, WakeMed provides more than 80 percent of the charity care in Wake County.  UNC Health Care’s Chapel Hill hospital looks and acts like a state-owned, publicly supported hospital should.  Rex Healthcare in Wake County does not.  It is time for Rex Healthcare to step up and provide its fair share of indigent, mental health and prisoner care because citizens of Wake County and the state should expect and deserve this from its state-owned hospitals.  Additionally, a state-owned hospital should not be using state resources to unfairly compete with private, not-for-profits who give so much back to the communities they serve.

The committee is performing its “fiduciary responsibility” to review WakeMed’s offer, but it should be far more than that.  We made a fair and serious offer in the best interest of the patients both hospitals serve and sincerely hope our offer is given fair and just consideration.

The committee established a web site to gauge public opinion, and it is important that your voice is heard. We need your help. 

Please share your feedback with the committee at http://unchealthcare.org/specialcommittee.

Thank you.

The competition was serious business.  Representatives from the schools’ athletic departments even took time out of their busy schedules and traveled to Raleigh to play on each of the teams:

• Appalachian State University – Rick Beasley, Sr. Associate Athletics Director, and Jerry Moore, Head Football Coach
• Duke University – Jamie Green, Head Men’s Golf Coach
• East Carolina University – Press McPhaul, Head Men’s Golf Coach
• NC State University – Tom O’Brien, Head Football Coach
• Virginia Tech – Jay Harwick, Head Golf Coach
• Wake Forest University – Jim Grobe, Head Football Coach

A huge thank you to McConnell Golf LLC, for underwriting the costs of the tournament.  Thanks to this generous gift, all the money raised will go directly toward the renovation and expansion of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

Also, thank you to our team sponsors:

• First Citizens Bank
• Northwestern Mutual Financial Network
• CAPTRUST Financial Advisors
• TA Loving
• Wyrick Robbins Yates & Ponton LLP
• Alfred Williams
• Triangle Educational Advancement Foundation
• Blue Cross Blue Shield of NC
• Appalachian State University players

And the winning team was…..Wake Forest University!  All the team members will receive a day of golf at the Old North State Club, courtesy of McConnell Golf LLC.

Coming in a close second was East Carolina University and 3rd place went to NC State University.