More than 150 people packed Christo’s for a night of good food, good music and dancing with all the proceeds going to help the Neighborhood Center and the Center for Hospice meet the needs of the area’s residents.
“Of course we have Medicare and personal health insurance to draw on for payment,” said Mike Wargo of the Center for Hospice and Palliative Care. “But we also have many people we serve that have no ability to pay. We’re estimating that by the end of the year we will have provided $1.1 million in free services. That’s why an event like this means so much to us.”
Wargo said that his organization hasn’t felt the real pinch of the economy just yet, but is bracing for the coming year.
“To date our fundraising has been steady – there hasn’t been an increase but there hasn’t been a decrease either,” he said. “Of course we just aren’t sure what 2009 is going to bring so the fact that the Mayor would honor us in this way is very important to everybody that we serve.”
Jerry Nikitas, Director of the Marshall County Neighborhood Center was similarly pleased to be a part.
“This month we will have served 1169 people at the food pantry alone,” said Nikitas. “This is an extremely giving and sharing community with people who are genuinely concerned with making this a vital and sustainable place to live for everybody. Even our young people are giving and helping and it’s a really great thing for this community to teach our children to help others.”