On August 25 and 26, Sharp HospiceCare held its 15th annual Sharp HospiceCare Benefit Dinner and Regatta. Along with Sharp HospiceCare, the event was hosted by Coronado Yacht Club and Cortez Racing Association. Top event sponsors included Horizon Oxygen and Medical Equipment Inc., Lantern Crest Senior Living, Virginia Napierskie and Sodexo Health Care Services.
The weekend festivities netted $360,000 for Sharp HospiceCare. The funds will help offset unfunded patient care and supplemental patient programs, such as music therapy, healing touch and the We Honor Veterans program. The event also supports Sharp HospiceCare’s Homes for Hospice program, which offers a unique environment for patients with a life-limiting illness, to meet their needs in a comfortable home setting.
“Since 1991, Sharp HospiceCare has been providing expert care to those in need during the last phase of their lives,” said Suzi Johnson, vice president of Sharp HospiceCare. “It is through the generosity of others that special programs, services and our unique hospice homes are available, and we are extremely appreciative and grateful for this continued and critical philanthropic support.”
The festivities kicked off Friday evening with a pre-race dinner and silent auction attended by 500 guests at Hotel del Coronado, followed by the regatta on Saturday, where 700 guests enjoyed lunch, dinner and music at the Coronado Yacht Club. They also had the opportunity to board yachts and cruise along San Diego Bay for a breathtaking view of the racecourse. There were 38 spectator boat yachts and 43 racers in the regatta in nine classes.
The overall regatta winner was the race boat Maleficent owned by Commodore Chris Bennett of Cortez Racing Association. The Maleficent crew will have the opportunity to compete in the 2018 National Hospice Regatta Alliance. Second place overall winner was Tom Fisher and his boat Viggen.
Other notable winners included Brock Paquin who won the Greg Walker Memorial Cup, given to a Coronado Yacht Club racer in memory of 2014 Commodore Greg Walker who passed away at Sharp HospiceCare’s ParkView hospice residence three years ago.
