Former Temple Beth Israel 'Reverse Draw' dinner to benefit Mount St. Mary's Hospital

Mount St. Mary's Hospital and Health Center announced last week a new bonding of faiths for the benefit of the Niagara County community. It reports organizers of the former Temple Beth Israel "Reverse Draw" dinner will now designate its proceeds to benefit Mount St. Mary's Hospital.

For the past 34 years, Temple Beth Israel in Niagara Falls has held a "reverse raffle draw" fundraising dinner, raising approximately $10,000 annually to support the Temple. This year, organizers have bestowed the fundraiser to the Mount St. Mary's Hospital Foundation, which will continue to run the event in the future.

The dinner and drawing will be Wednesday, May 11, at The Como Restaurant, 2220 Pine Ave., Niagara Falls. The evening starts at 6:30 p.m. with the program at 7:15 p.m. and dinner at 7:30 p.m. Proceeds from the fundraiser will benefit The Family Birthplace at Mount St. Mary's Hospital, the hospital's maternity department.

"Temple Beth Israel has announced it will be closing in the next couple of years, but we wanted to continue our successful fundraiser to support another deserving organization in the community," said Jerald I. Wolfgang, event founder and organizer. "We decided to look outside of our faith and chose Mount St. Mary's Hospital, a Catholic organization that provides quality health care to members of our entire community, regardless of faith."

"We are honored that Temple Beth Israel has decided to pass their annual fundraiser onto us," said Lynn Catalano, executive director, Mount St. Mary's Foundation. "This event will support our efforts to enhance the hospital's maternity services to bring new moms the best comforts of home, with the latest technology."

In addition to recognizing Temple Beth Israel for passing its event onto the hospital, Mount St. Mary's Foundation is also honoring the organizers of the Niagara Catholic High School and Mount St. Mary's HERO student internship program and the physicians and staff who volunteered their surgical and health care expertise for a facial reconstruction of a Vietnamese boy as part of the Hope for Tomorrow initiative.

Tickets are $50 each and only 300 will be sold. For tickets and more information, call the Mount St. Mary's Foundation at 298-2143. Contributions to the Mount St. Mary's Foundation are tax deductible.

The following will be recognized at the May 11 Mount St. Mary's Reverse Draw Dinner

•Temple Beth Israel.

The temple's membership is being honored for passing their event onto the hospital.

•Organizers of the Niagara Catholic High School and Mount St. Mary's HERO student Internship Program.

Niagara Catholic Principal Robert DeFrancesco and Honor Martin, director of Education and Organizational Development at Mount St. Mary's are being saluted for their efforts in organizing a student internship program for young people interested in careers in health care. Titled the "Health Education Raises Opportunities" program, the effort involves students from Niagara Catholic taking part in a student internship program in various clinical and non-clinical departments at Mount St. Mary's. The work they perform during the internship is evaluated by Niagara University for college credits.

•Volunteers who Assisted Huu Cong Nguyen

 The physicians and staff who volunteered their surgical and health care expertise for the facial surgery of a Vietnamese boy as part of the Hope for Tomorrow initiative. These include Dr. Jeffrey Meilman, Dr. Federico Doldan, Dr. John Huebschmann, and staff at Mount St. Mary's. The Hope for Tomorrow organization arranged for transportation of the child to Western New York from Vietnam and the services locally were donated for facial surgery.