Friends of Saint Francis hosts fifth annual gala

“When you’re in a tough spot, you need a friend.”

That’s how Saint Francis Foundation vice president Jimmy Wilferth described the Friends of Saint Francis during its fifth annual The Friends Gala on Saturday night.

A entity of the Saint Francis Foundation, Friends of Saint Francis helps to connect community members in need with medical resources.

About 510 tickets were sold to Saturday’s event, which was held at the Drury Plaza Hotel in Cape Girardeau.

At $200 a ticket, Wilferth said everyone at the event were sponsors of the Friends foundation. One hundred percent of the night’s proceeds benefit CancerCare and CardiacCare at Saint Francis, and is split equally between the two funds. As the Friends of Saint Francis is a division of the Foundation, Wilferth said it is focused on providing care and resources to the community.

Wilferth said the CardiacCare funds help to send patients home with care packages, including items such as blood pressure monitors to better help with recovery.

The Foundation set a goal of $270,000 for the night; provided this goal was met or exceeded, Wilferth said this year will mark more than a million dollars raised by The Friends Gala in the past five years.

As guests entered the venue, they were greeted with glasses of Champagne, hors d’oeuvres and opportunities to enter raffles and a bid board auction.

The gala continued until midnight, as guests were invited to enjoy a live auction, late-night snacks, live music by Platinum Rock Legends and a selfie photo booth.

Becky Peters of Cape Girardeau, attended the gala for the first time Saturday. She said the importance lies in the community members the Friends of Saint Francis can help.

“Everyone, at some point will experience a need, either in their own life or in their family, or their friend,” Peters said. “Not everyone has access, so the goal is that we will all have access to great medical care, and Saint Francis is leading us in that.”