Smiling faces, generous hearts made our event a great success
We’re back (in person, that is)!
After two years of striking down barriers to health care virtually, we were thrilled to host our annual Strike Down Barriers fundraiser in person. It was so wonderful to see the many faces we’ve encountered and partnered with over the years. There really is nothing like person-to-person connections.
We want to extend a special thank you to our Perfect Game sponsor, JPMorgan, and our King Pin sponsors, Evergreen Health, PacMed, Stoel Rives LLP, and Virginia Mason Franciscan Health, for leading the way in Striking Down Barriers to Health Care this year. With support from all our sponsors and individual donors, we met our goal and raised over $130,000! All funds raised support our care coordination program.
Our good friend Bender returned for his fourth year as emcee of the event. He welcomed our guests and acknowledged the energy that was in the room. Once everyone was seated, he handed the mic to Gary Renville, executive director of Project Access Northwest, who shared an impressive look back at the organization’s accomplishments and hopes for the future. He then invited board president Terri Rambosek, Stoel Rives, LLP, to share some very inspired sentiments. Board member Kathleen Fondren, CellNetix Pathology & Laboratories, stepped up next to share a bit about how she first learned of and then connected with Project Access Northwest. She then had the honor of introducing our Mission Moment speaker. Dr. Jennifer Chin, OB/GYM UW Medicine. While she could not join us in person, she shared experiences from her work as a care coordinator to her current role with UW Medicine in a heartfelt and inspiring video.
And the winner is…
We also announced this year’s winner of Andrea Castell Access to Health Care Award, which recognizes an individual who works to improve health care access for all members of our community. Cassie Sauer, CEO of Washington State Hospital Association and recipient of the award in 2021, presented the 2022 award to Deborah Jefferson, who recently retired from EvergreenHealth and her impressive nursing career.
We applaud the work of all of this year's nominees: Lise K. Alexander, MD, Pacific Medical Centers; Brian Knowles, Executive Director, Bailey-Boushay House; Sonja Maddox, MD, Pacific Medical Centers; Nancy Sugg MD, MPH, Associate Professor & Medical Director of Harborview and Pioneer Square Clinic; Kathleen Wilcox, Executive Director, African Americans Reach and Teach Health Ministry; and Lisa Yohalem, Chief Executive Officer, HealthPoint, CHC.
And we didn’t stop there! We also celebrated our top peer-to-peer fundraising teams, Northern Lights (led by Paul Castonguay), Genentech and team Chris Douglas (led by Chris Douglas, Douglas Healthcare Consulting LLC). Thank you to all the teams who helped raise funds. We also raffled off two round-trip tickets on Alaska Airlines. Thank you, Alaska Airlines!
As the evening wrapped up with the always exciting Raise the Paddle, Bender again reminded us why we were here, to help those who need it. And so, as we look forward to next year and all the opportunities for success ahead of us, we know that we couldn’t do much of this life-saving work without you.
Save the date!
Strike Down Barriers to Health Care returns next year on Tuesday, October 24!
