The 16th annual Sharp HospiceCare Benefit Dinner and Regatta netted $400,000 from its two-day event, held Aug. 24 and 25, 2018. Along with Sharp HospiceCare, the event was hosted by Coronado Yacht Club and Cortez Racing Association. This year’s event co-chairs were Kathy Bongiovanni and Sherri Summers.
Top event sponsors included an anonymous donor and Horizon Oxygen and Medical Equipment, Inc. 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.
“The community’s enduring support for what we do is truly humbling,” says Suzi K. Johnson, vice president of Sharp HospiceCare. “We are honored to have the opportunity to care for our patients and their families when they need us most. The generous donations from the Regatta help us further our mission to provide this type of specialized care to all those in the community who need it.”
The festivities kicked off Friday evening at Hotel del Coronado, with a pre-race dinner and silent auction attended by 550 guests, followed by the regatta on Saturday at Coronado Yacht Club, where 750 guests enjoyed lunch, dinner and music. Guests also cruised along San Diego Bay aboard 40 spectator yachts for a breathtaking view of the bay and racecourse, as 53 race boats in nine classes competed in the regatta.
The overall regatta winner was the sailboat A4, skippered by Scot Tempesta. The A4 crew will have the opportunity to compete in the 2019 National Hospice Regatta Alliance. Second place overall winner was Andrew Picel on his sailboat, Arsenal.
In addition, 16-year-old River Paquin, skipper of the sailboat Elusive, won the Greg Walker Memorial Cup. The award has been given each year to a Coronado Yacht Club racer in memory of 2014 Coronado Yacht Club Commodore Greg Walker, who passed away late that year at Sharp HospiceCare’s ParkView hospice residence.
ABOUT SHARP HOSPICECARE:
Sharp HospiceCare is a not-for-profit, Medicare-certified organization, dedicated to providing comfort and compassion with end-of-life support for patients and their families. Sharp HospiceCare is accredited by the Joint Commission, and is affiliated with the California Hospice and Palliative Care Association, and the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization. To learn more, visit www.sharp.com/hospice.
