Weiser donates big time at Idaho Gives event

Officials with two local nonprofits that participated in the Idaho Gives 24 hours of fundraising last week were thrilled to see some big numbers at the end of the event.  
 The Weiser-based Angel Wings Network had a fundraising goal of $10,000 in online and live and silent auction donations and netted $11,000 after expenses.
 The nonprofit organization has been assisting and supporting people with cancer in the region for over 10 years and offers its services free of charge.
 The Weiser Memorial Hospital Foundation was another of the more than 580 nonprofits signed up statewide to participate in the Idaho Gives fundraiser. The hospital earned $5,860 in donations to go toward the Marla Egbert Memorial Fund.
 This year’s Idaho Gives event was held on May 2. A total of 12,305 donors across the state raised $1.96 million for 589 participating nonprofits.
 Angel Wings Network held a wrap-up party on Thursday at the Weiser Senior and Community Center with food, dessert auctions, music, a chili cook-off and lots of fun. The event also featured a guest speaker talking about nutrition during and after cancer.
 Joe Qualls served as emcee for the party and Larry Barnum, with the assistance of Weiser Valley Roundup Queen Camryn Hite, did the live dessert auction. Barnum exhorted the crowd to get the bidding up on some fantastic desserts, including a chocolate cake that brought $35.
 There were many Angel Wings Network volunteers working at the after party for Idaho Gives, including Eleonore Huggins, who registered bidders for the live auction. She assists cancer patients by volunteering to drive them to treatment in Ontario.
 She said she is always humbled by the struggles people who are dealing with cancer go through and it puts her life and its minor travails in perspective.
 There have been people in her family who also have battled cancer. There were also many cancer survivors at the wrap-up party.
 The number of donations from generous businesses for the silent auction were up, with all the proceeds going to assist cancer patients. A Traeger grill and supplies were raffled off during the event. The Wranglers 4-H club sold $340 worth of raffle tickets for the grill.
 Ron Handel was in charge of the chili cook-off and offered samples from the five entries to be judged. First place went to Mary Chavez. Mabel Dobbs won second place for her chili recipe and Alberta Busking won third place. All the winners donated the prize money back to Angel Wings Network.
 With the donations it receives, Angel Wings Network and its volunteers provide transportation to and from treatment and medical appointments for cancer patients, gas cards, meals, prayer blankets, a lending library of books, literature, moral support and more.
 The organization offers these services free of charge within a radius of 75 miles from Weiser, including areas of southeastern Oregon and up to Council.
 Volunteers also spend two days a week supporting cancer patients at the chemotherapy infusion center at Saint Alphonsus medical center in Ontario.
 The Idaho Gives Day fundraiser is one of two annual fundraisers for Angel Wings Network. The other is the annual 1k and 5k run and walk.