The Auxiliary board: first row from left, Jane Ensminger (Auxiliary Advisor), Joan Gering (Auxiliary Advisor), Nancy Coleman (Corresponding Secretary) and Rita Kravitz (Pecan Sale Chair). Second row, from left, Carol Flanders (Pecan Sale Chair), Donna Costanzo (Auxiliary VP & Carnival Co-chair), Jami Szafranski (Member-at-large, Designer Bag Bingo Chair), Barbara Brennfleck (Treasurer), Karen Katz (Nominating Committee), Nora Harker (Pecan Sale chair). Back Row from left, Sue Cammarano ( Member-at-large), Stacey Shah (Recording Secretary), Chris Butrym (Auxiliary President & Carnival Co-chair), Ujwala Sawant (Assistant Treasurer), Swati Patel-Joseph (Publicity Chair), Joan Schrempp (Tree of Light Chair), Pat Salt (Calendar Raffle Chair).
By John Sievers
The Capital Health Auxiliary will be hosting its first carnival fundraiser Thursday, Oct. 1 through Sunday, Oct. 4 at Alliger Park in Hopewell Township.
Hospital officials say the carnival fundraiser provides an opportunity for Capital Health and the Hopewell community to “come together to share in a fun and enriching family experience while showing support for the educational and health initiatives that Capital Health offers for women and children.”
“The first thing is to reach out to the community,” Swati Patel-Joseph, the Auxiliary’s PR chair, said. “The theme is ‘caring for our community.’”
Community in this case means the local area that Capital Health covers, primarily Hopewell, Ewing, Hamilton and Trenton.
The nonprofit Capital Health Auxiliary is sponsoring the charity event.
“A portion of the proceeds will help women and children in some way,” Patel-Joseph said. “We don’t know in what way at the moment.”
The move from Mercer to the Hopewell campus led to the closing of the Oasis Gift Shop, its main stream of income. They anticipate the “Caring for our Community” Carnival will prove to be a “major money-maker” and will help offset the loss of Oasis, according to an Auxiliary newsletter.
“The Oasis closed because our campus in Trenton on Bellevue closed,” Chris DeFrancesco-Butrym, Capital Health Auxiliary president, said. “When the Hopewell Campus opened, the hospital decided to have a manager run both the Pitter Patter and the Sunflower Gift Shops. We still have volunteers in the gift shop to help the manager.”
DeFrancesco-Butrym said Oasis was a primary Auxiliary fundraiser before the move to Hopewell. “Now we are trying to offset that by having a big fundraiser. We have several smaller fundraisers but nothing as promising as [the carnival]” she said.
This is the first time Capital Health is hosting an event of such scale, and Patel-Joseph said she was not comfortable talking about the dollar amounts in putting on such an extravaganza other than to say that carnival sponsors would be covering that cost. She also declined to say just how much the carnival is expecting to take in.
The auxiliary is still seeking volunteers.
“Giving as little as two hours of your time during the event will make a huge difference, and will be greatly appreciated,” DeFrancesco-Butrym wrote in a recent newsletter.
Donna Costanzo, Capital Health Auxiliary carnival sponsor coordinator, said Auxiliary officials are estimating they will need between 70 and 125 volunteers per evening based on the length of the carnival. “Saturday and Sunday will require more volunteers,” she said.
One of those volunteers is Trish Mikita. “Quite honestly, I was looking at the Hopewell Express’s article on the soon to be carnival and the request for volunteers,” she said.
She thought it would be nice “to give back” now that she has extra time in her schedule.
“We, in Hopewell Township, are so very lucky to have Capital Health in our community and are the benefactors of very compassionate and caring doctors and nurses and other professionals to look after us,” Mikita said.
She has not volunteered before aside from the typical room mother, Girl Scout cookie chairperson or parent-teacher organization participant. Mikita said she has been a homemaker before last working 14 years ago at Bristol-Myers-Squibb. When she and her husband got married, they built their house in Hopewell Township.
“This has been the one place that we have lived since we were a couple,” she said. “We just can’t say enough about the community. When there is a family or a situation, we rise to the occasion. I have met some of the women on the auxiliary and was so impressed with their dedication and anticipation for future projects to raise funds for the hospital, that it was easy to understand why their projects are successful.”
Many Carnival volunteers will be manning rides such as a Ferris wheel, carousels, an obstacle course, a mini coaster and a slide as well as shooting, toss and water games or running a 50/50 raffle. Some of those volunteers will also be serving food, like Mikita.
She volunteered for the Capital Grill because “I am a foodie and I am a very high energy person,” Mikita said. “I think that will be a good choice for me.” In preparation she’ll be getting a good night’s sleep so she’ll be able to “rock and roll” when volunteer time comes.
Proceeds will support the educational and health initiatives that the hospital offers such as continuing education, helping to promote awareness, and patient care.
As part of the hospital’s “Caring for Our Community” theme, community health and educational groups will be offering information under the hospitality tent.
Carnival sponsors will have tables and various programs and lectures will be scheduled. Visitors may also pick up patient educational materials on various medical conditions such as heart disease, diabetes and nutrition.
Patel-Joseph said that doctors, nurses and other health care professionals will talk about their specialties to educate and raise awareness. She said she could not be more specific because scheduling details have not been finalized yet. “People will be able to go to the website prior to the event,” she said.
In addition to the Auxiliary volunteer work, the organization also raises funds for the hospital. The hospital auxiliary raises awareness for hospital programs that maintain and improve patient care as well as community benefit and support. The carnival, hospital officials say, is part of that process.
Even though Mikita’s work for the auxiliary hasn’t gotten started yet, she said she is already looking forward to future projects and fundraisers that the auxiliary will be involved with.
“The money that is raised is used for educational initiatives of the nursing staff and other deserving resources,” she said. “I am proud to help out Capital Health’s Auxiliary.”
Carnival hours are 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. Thursday and Friday, Oct. 1-2; 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 3 and Noon to 6 p.m. on Sunday. Thursday is Family Night, $25 and wristbands will be sold to ride all night. Friday is Hospital Employee Night. Only those individuals with a Capital Health ID may buy wristbands to ride all night. An ATM will be available. Individual ride tickets are $1.
Carnival parking will be in Lot B at Capital Health Medical Center. Shuttle service will be provided to and from the carnival at Alliger Park. Although there will be a drop off area, the only parking available at the park will be for the handicapped and volunteers.
Sponsorship levels range from $250 to $5,000, according to the auxiliary’s website.
Event sponsors include NJ PURE, Medical Professional Liability Insurance; First Choice Bank, Center for Women’s Health in Langhorne, Pa.; Mercer Allergy and Pulmonary Associates in Hamilton; Mid-State Equipment Co., Inc. in Titusville; Pennington Montessori School in Pennington; and Princeton Eye and Ear, Adult and Pediatric Ear, Nose and Throat Care.
If your organization would like to participate in the “Caring for Our Community” charity event as a sponsor, please contact Donna Costanzo, Capital Health Auxiliary Carnival Sponsor Coordinator at donna1116@comcast.net or 908-513-4575.
For more information, visit capitalhealth.org/
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