West River Health Services Foundation’s “Giving Hearts Night with the Nighthawks & Bulldogs” girl’s basketball fundraiser at the Hettinger Gymnasium on Monday, January 23rd raised over $25,000! Who would have thought that having the admission, popcorn and t-shirts underwritten, 3rd/4th grade girls and boys basketball playing at halftimes, a comfy couch auction, and a freethrow pledging shootout by former and current stars, could create such FUNdraising? It did!
As fans, players and coaches entered the Robert-Reinke Auditorium, they couldn’t help but notice all of the red and white signs around the gym – “HUSTLE” “TOGETHER” “BELIEVE” “TEAMWORK” “SMILE” “OUTSTANDING” “GRATEFUL” “BRILLIANT” “DREAM” “THANK YOU SPONSORS” and in the hallway “BE BRAVE, YET KIND.” Everywhere, even in the restrooms, there were red hearts and signs proclaiming “Giving Hearts Day, Feb 9” and go to “givingheartsday.org.” There were even pull-ups (2’ x 6’ signs) promoting the event in Nighthawk royal blue and Bulldog maroon!
Longtime loyal supporters of the WRHS Foundation, Dakota Western Bank and Scranton Equity, made it possible for all fans to enter FREE! DWB also started off the freethrow pledging a month ago with $100 pledges for each made shot! Plus, T2 Honey Company and Commercial Bee Supply provided 450 bee bags of FREE POPCORN for everyone! And they’re also making gifts of $450 each to the HHS Junior Class Concessions and our WRHS Foundation! Thoughtful sponsors. We are grateful.
WRHS employees and WRHS Foundation Board of Directors were greeting people at the front door with open arms, explaining the night’s program of free admission and free popcorn. The hope was that fans might consider “paying forward” their usual admission/popcorn fees and maybe more! For a $25 gift, fans were placed into a drawing for six terrific prizes including blue tooth music players, Sweet Vibes cookies and Giving Hearts Day gift cards. For gifts of $50 or more, fans received red “Giving Hearts Heroes Together” t-shirts and were entered into the six prize drawings as well. 241 total individual pledges were posted for made freethrows or lump-sum total gifts for local stars Samantha Oase (2021 ND Miss Basketball), Shelly Andrews-Christensen (Two-time ND All-State, 1985-1986), Ella Jensen (Senior Nighthawk) and Ellie Powell (Senior Bulldog). They could select one, two or three shooters/teams. The high school senior shooters, Powell and Jensen, each shot five for a “Team Ell” total of 10. Both Oase and Andrews shot 10 apiece. And did they ever do great. WOW! As of today, Thursday, January 26th, it appears the WRHS Foundation will easily clear $25,000 and maybe more. Thankfully, many pledgers are rounding up their gifts considerably! Evidently they want improved top-notch healthcare “close to home.” And we aim to provide it!
The “C” teams (8-9th graders) got things started at 4pm sharp. Sporting their red and white Giving Hearts Day warmup shirts (designed by Andy Roehl at Graphic Attic) over their uni’s, the Bowman girls took a commanding lead from the beginning and dominated the contest. At halftime, the 3rd grade boys entered the John Butterfield Court with red and white Giving Hearts Day shirts (sponsored by Kim Erickson Farmers Union Insurance Agency), including red superhero capes shoulder height and proud, blowing in the wind. In fact, they were so excited, they ran right out of the gym and up toward the elementary! We eventually got them turned around to play their hearts out for ten minutes. We haven’t seen so many parents and grandparents, aunts and uncles, brothers and sisters at the games for quite some time. They even had the old referee doing a somersault!
The “B” teams (9th-10th graders) hit the hardwood next, with Bowman moving ahead convincingly once again and maintaining their large lead throughout. At halftime, the 4th grade girls entered the stadium with their Giving Hearts tees and their red capes as well. They made a lap and headed to the center jump ball. A few were so excited, they forgot they still had their capes on! No matter, they left it all on the court. The future looks promising! And the old ref managed to stay on his feet this go round.
Between the “B” and Varsity games, we held a “Comfy Couch Live Auction.” Andy Mrnak, a local auctioneer with Pifer’s Auction & Realty in Bowman (and the Bowman Head Coach’s husband), chanted five times, looking to the crowd for the highest bids (each of the five highest bids for two seats, on three comfy couches on the stage). Shannon LeFebre, Duane Pierce, Stan Stelter, Dr. Carrie Ranum and Neil Kettelman were the highest bidders and took their seats on the comfy couches for the varsity tilt. Probably one of the more thoughtful moves of the night, happened when Shannon LeFebre won the last bid of the night and gifted it forward to Tessa Palczewski (who was second numerous times bidding). The WRHS Foundation then delivered refreshments, popcorns, pizzas, candies and ice-cream to the couch winners throughout the varsity game! It was a blast! Not sure how they felt the next day!
The Varsity teams netted a similar result. Once again, Bowman jumped out to an early lead. But Hettinger-Scranton fought back and closed the gap a little. In the second half, the Bulldogs coasted to victory -- although the effort was certainly terrific by both teams.
At halftime of the Varsity battle, we held our “Freethrow Shootout for Pledges.” Seniors Ellie Powell and Ella Jensen each made 3 of 5, teaming up for 6 of 10. Shelly Andrews-Christensen netted 6 of 10 as well. And Samantha Oase, scored 7 of 10. Overall, the ladies swished 19 of 30. Outstanding! Each received a large, soft Giving Hearts Teddy Bear and a gift bag full of terrific prizes! Thank you ladies for helping us raise the bar for Giving Hearts Night!
The winners of the door prizes were: Suzanne Doerr, Joan Schmaltz, Wade Henderson, Andy Hetland, Stacy Burns and Amber Davenport. Thank you for supporting our efforts to hire more personnel.
Our WRHS Foundation would like to thank our sponsors for believing in us; our givers for believing in our future; our pledgers for building confidence in our shooters; the head coaches for getting us sizes; the volunteers for helping us at the front tables; Cindy Ham for event poster development; Sheri Uecker for helping us build electricity via posters in the gym; Dr. John Kludt and Acalia Olson for staying after to help with tear down; Hettinger Public School for providing the venue; the Adams County Record, Eido and Bowman County Pioneer for placing our articles and advertisements; the businesses in our area communities for allowing us to post our event in their stores; Andy and Chris at the Graphic Attic for designing the greatest t-shirts; and the Hettinger-Scranton Nighthawks Wrestling Team for hauling the couches in and out. TOGETHER we are making a difference for top-notch healthcare “close to home.”
Giving Hearts Day, the largest online, one-day fundraiser in North Dakota is coming up soon on Thursday, February 9th. If you’d like to participate with our WRHS Foundation and our goal to “Match the Follmer Match” of $100,000, you can give by check any time between now and Feb 9. Please write check to “WRHSF,” with “Giving Hearts Day” in the memo section. Please send to WRHSF, Attn: Ted Uecker, 1000 Hwy 12, Hettinger, ND, 58639. Or call Ted at 701-567-3666 and he’ll come pick it up. If you’d like to give by credit card for Giving Hearts Day, you can do so on February 9th, at givingheartsday.org and search West River Health Services Foundation. Thank you. As always, onward!
By Ted Uecker, West River Health Services Foundation