Alva Review-Courier -

Oh what a night! The 8th Annual Jeans and Gems fundraiser brought in $62,000 last Saturday night. The event is put on by the Friends of the Kiowa District Hospital and Manor Foundation. Judy Schrock, foundation president, said the evening “went very well. It was a great event. We had some generous donors step up.”

Schrock said the $62,000 was raised through the silent and live auctions, ticket sales and other donations. “It's the most we've ever raised at Jeans and Gems,” she said and thanked everyone for their generosity.

At the end of the evening Schrock gave the microphone to Deborah Helfrich. She is one of three trustees on the Robert L. and Grace P. Hays Charitable Giving Fund. The other two trustees are Bob Cox and Laurie Hiltner.

Helfrich announced the Hays Fund was giving $50,000 to the Foundation for remodeling at the Kiowa Manor. This increased the total raised at Jeans and Gems to $112,000. Watch for an article in the Newsgram next week about the Bob and Grace Hays Fund and how the couple started it to be generous to the community where they were business owners for years and loved Kiowa.

KDH CEO Janell Goodno said that in this questionable economy, “Our goal this year was $20,000. We are overwhelmed. The generosity of the community to support the hospital district is tremendous and so appreciated.”

When asked about the manor remodel, Goodno said that Phase I will be remodeling the kitchen. Next they'll do laundry and housekeeping areas. Following will be infrastructure, HVAC and the electrical generator. “We're optimistic that we can do some exterior painting and indoor flooring as well,” Goodno said.

Watch the Newsgram next week for some photos from this gem of an event with a “Do the Hustle” theme.