Red Ball Fundraiser Carries Military Theme This Year
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Jen [email protected]
Saturday night, people gathered at Tippecanoe Country Club, Leesburg, for the military-themed fundraising event. This year's theme was "You've Been Drafted" to reflect one of the main duties of the Red Cross - assisting military families here at home. The local chapter of the Red Cross expects requests for assistance to increase with the deployment of local troops to Iraq.[[In-content Ad]]Local residents Paula Fiscus and Dawn Rapp were the featured speakers at this year's event.
Fiscus told the group about how her life was changed forever on March 26, 2005, when she learned that her husband, Michael Todd Fiscus, was killed in Afghanistan.
Fiscus said the morning started out like any other. As she worked out, she saw on the CNN ticker that four soldiers had been killed in Afghanistan.
Since her husband was an officer and "worked behind a desk," Fiscus said she was not alarmed - until a uniformed officer from the National Guard and a representative from the Red Cross rang her doorbell to tell her that her husband was one of the four soldiers killed.
"The rest of what he said is a fog to me now," she said.
Fiscus went on, saying that in the days that followed, she had the daunting task of redefining her life. In that time, she said the bills mounted and she didn't know what to do.
Then she remembered the Red Cross. She went to the Red Cross for financial assistance and received the help she needed.
"This is one example of how the Red Cross helped a military family," Fiscus said.
Rapp told the group that her husband, Doug Rapp, recently was deployed with about 3,400 other Indiana National Guard Troops. Dawn said that this is her husband's second deployment, and relayed how the Red Cross helped her family during his first deployment a few years ago.
While Doug was stationed in Bosnia, his father became very ill and was facing heart surgery. His family contacted the Red Cross with the information, and the organization relayed the message on to him.
"They were phenomenal, very helpful," Dawn said.
After the women spoke about their experiences with the local chapter of the American Red Cross, the live auction began.
The most popular auction item, which brought $2,200, was a package that included four suite tickets to this year's Indianapolis Colts-New England Patriots football game at Lucas Oil Stadium. The package also included two rooms at the Indianapolis Sheraton Hotel and was donated by Toby and Donna Buck.
A Briolette-cut lemon quartz pendant and matching earrings from Bowers Jewelers brought $1,800 at the auction, while a cooking lesson from Chef Caleb France and dinner at Cerulean Restaurant in Winona Lake brought $1,100.
An evening cruise on Syracuse Lake donated by Omer Kropf raised $1,000 at auction.
Co-chairs for the Red Ball event were Dr. Larry and Fran Allen, David and Cheryl Blakemore, Dr. Dean and Carol Lyn Jansen, and Cody Silva and Katherine Kubacki.
Saturday night, people gathered at Tippecanoe Country Club, Leesburg, for the military-themed fundraising event. This year's theme was "You've Been Drafted" to reflect one of the main duties of the Red Cross - assisting military families here at home. The local chapter of the Red Cross expects requests for assistance to increase with the deployment of local troops to Iraq.[[In-content Ad]]Local residents Paula Fiscus and Dawn Rapp were the featured speakers at this year's event.
Fiscus told the group about how her life was changed forever on March 26, 2005, when she learned that her husband, Michael Todd Fiscus, was killed in Afghanistan.
Fiscus said the morning started out like any other. As she worked out, she saw on the CNN ticker that four soldiers had been killed in Afghanistan.
Since her husband was an officer and "worked behind a desk," Fiscus said she was not alarmed - until a uniformed officer from the National Guard and a representative from the Red Cross rang her doorbell to tell her that her husband was one of the four soldiers killed.
"The rest of what he said is a fog to me now," she said.
Fiscus went on, saying that in the days that followed, she had the daunting task of redefining her life. In that time, she said the bills mounted and she didn't know what to do.
Then she remembered the Red Cross. She went to the Red Cross for financial assistance and received the help she needed.
"This is one example of how the Red Cross helped a military family," Fiscus said.
Rapp told the group that her husband, Doug Rapp, recently was deployed with about 3,400 other Indiana National Guard Troops. Dawn said that this is her husband's second deployment, and relayed how the Red Cross helped her family during his first deployment a few years ago.
While Doug was stationed in Bosnia, his father became very ill and was facing heart surgery. His family contacted the Red Cross with the information, and the organization relayed the message on to him.
"They were phenomenal, very helpful," Dawn said.
After the women spoke about their experiences with the local chapter of the American Red Cross, the live auction began.
The most popular auction item, which brought $2,200, was a package that included four suite tickets to this year's Indianapolis Colts-New England Patriots football game at Lucas Oil Stadium. The package also included two rooms at the Indianapolis Sheraton Hotel and was donated by Toby and Donna Buck.
A Briolette-cut lemon quartz pendant and matching earrings from Bowers Jewelers brought $1,800 at the auction, while a cooking lesson from Chef Caleb France and dinner at Cerulean Restaurant in Winona Lake brought $1,100.
An evening cruise on Syracuse Lake donated by Omer Kropf raised $1,000 at auction.
Co-chairs for the Red Ball event were Dr. Larry and Fran Allen, David and Cheryl Blakemore, Dr. Dean and Carol Lyn Jansen, and Cody Silva and Katherine Kubacki.
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