Lamar Area Hospice’s Annual Fundraiser in its 27th year

It’s time for the annual “Backyard Bash” event (Saturday, September 14), which promises to be bigger and better than ever.  Now in it’s 27^th year, the event is the single largest fundraiser for Lamar Area Hospice.  The event has been chaired by Rose Ann Adame-Yates since its inception.

I spoke with Deb Pelley, Director of the Lamar Area Hospice.  She told me that for the past 10 years, the fundraiser has regularly presented checks in the $60,000 – $70,000 range to the hospice and she lavished praise on Ms. Adame-Yates and her tireless efforts to make this event happen each year.  Hospice services are reimbursed to an extent by insurance, but the bulk of the services they provide rely solely on donations, which makes fundraisers like this one so very appreciated.   These include palliative care, the Helping Hands program for the Independent Elderly, and the Good Grief programs for adults and children.  The agency also loans out medical equipment at no cost to those in need, which also wouldn’t be possible without the generous donations.  Ms. Pelley said it’s incredible how a small community such as ours turns out for such a worthwhile cause and how freely they give.

The event will be held at the Lamar Eagles beginning at 6 pm.  Dinner is being catered by Gary’s Backyard Smokehouse & BBQ, which is included in the $60 per person ticket price.  There will be live music provided by the Jeffery Alan Band, dancing and live and silent auctions.

There is a plethora of auction items too numerous to mention, but some of the bigger ticket items include a stay at the Country Faith Farmhouse near Wiley (donated by Vickie Melcher),  4 Denver Broncos tickets to the September 27 game (donated by the Wooten family),  4 Colorado Rockies tickets (donated by Mike Flower), a free stud fee (donated by the Sutphin family), adult and kids cornhole sets, a large amount of beautiful artwork and a year-long all-inclusive package to the LaMar (which includes admission to all events and free food and drinks, which is valued at $5,000).

There are also corporate sponsorships available at the Silver ($250) level, Gold ($500) level and Platinum ($1,000) level.  Corporate sponsors will have their names displayed on a board on the first floor of the Lamar Area Hospice building for a year.  Corporate sponsors also receive free tickets to the event and auction (two tickets for the Silver and Gold levels and four tickets for the Platinum level).

By Barbara Crimond