Snazzy & Jazzy Shines Light on Donors and Good Works

As the old saying goes, you’re only as good as the company you keep. Looking around at all who gathered for our second annual Snazzy and Jazzy event, I couldn’t be prouder. Some amazing people and organizations have chosen to actively support CHI St. Alexius Health. We are truly in good company. 

It might be because we are part of a strong community. Our dedication to the Williston region is steadfast, and we feel incredibly fortunate that the community supports our organization in so many ways. For those who weren’t able to be there, I’d like to share some snapshots of the event and the projects we are excited to celebrate as we move forward into 2023. 

The Party: Celebrating the Givers 

More than 100 local community members came together for a night of music, delicious food and a chance at some serious bling on Saturday, Dec. 10, at the old Armory. We were blessed with chilly but clear weather for this free event that’s funded completely by sponsors. 

So many people and organizations donated resources, time and talents to our Snazzy and Jazzy event. We’d especially like to thank our corporate sponsor, American State Bank. We are truly blessed to have such dedicated and talented sponsors and supporters, including: 

• Event sponsors Cyndy Aafedt, FCI Constructors and Johnny’s Tavern. 
• Cool Beans, the jazz band who played through the evening. 
• Harmonic, an organization that helps underprivileged children find instruments and lessons, played Christmas tunes during Cool Beans’ intermission. 
• Pastor Steve Anderson gave the dinner blessing. 
• The River’s Edge catered the sit-down meal.
• The Lady Tetons volleyball team served the meal.
• Riddle’s Jewelry donated a $7,000 ring for the Ring Pull.
  • 75 boxes were sold. 
  • Each included a coupon for $100 off a purchase of $500 or more and a 1 karat loose gemstone. 

• Jenn Nebeker donated cookies.
• Kay Michael Lee Studio volunteered to coat check for free will donations.
• DriveNorth donated production and sound. 

Back: 2022 Projects and Activities

The evening is a chance to not only show some appreciation to the donors and sponsors who support CHI St. Alexius Health all year long, but also to talk about the good that comes out of this work and the great projects up ahead. And there’s plenty to talk about. Here’s a summary of projects from the past year. 

Oncology Projects 

• Scalp Cooling Treatment, a state-of-the-art treatment helps prevent hair loss during chemotherapy treatments. We are the first facility in our system (CommonSpirit Health) to offer this treatment.
• PET Scanner offers the highest quality imaging available for cancer monitoring. Patients are exposed to less radiation and spend only 7-12 minutes being scanned. The PET scanner is on site once per week. 
• Ray Station, an innovative treatment planning system used by leading cancer centers worldwide, supports a wide range of treatment machines and acts as one control center for all treatment planning needs. Coupled with our highly qualified provider and staff, the Ray Station will ensure patients at our Leonard P. Nelson Cancer Center receive the highest quality radiation treatment, without leaving Williston.

Student Sponsorship Program

Looking for a way to jumpstart your career in healthcare without having to take on the burden of debt with student loans? Then look no further and explore our NEW Tuition Sponsorship Program at CHI St. Alexius Health. Let us pay for your schooling AND guarantee you a job after you graduate! You must be:

• College Freshman, Sophomore, Junior or Senior
• Have an interest in radiology, respiratory therapy, nursing, or surgical tech
• Willing to work in one of our CHI locations in North Dakota or Minnesota
  • 1-2 years schooling sponsored: 3-year work commitment
  • 3-4 years schooling sponsored: 5-year work commitment 

Leaders’ Christmas Giving

Thank you to our leadership and providers for voting to forgo receiving Christmas gifts this year and donating the allocated funds instead. Each of the following 5 organizations will be receiving a $1,200 donation on behalf of our leadership and providers.

• Harmonic
• The Family Crisis Shelter
• NDAD
• Mondak Animal Rescue
• Bras For a Cause

Community Investments

As a nonprofit organization, we would not be able to invest so much into our facility and our community without the support of donors and 100% of the funds we raise through our Foundation go to the hospital, hospital programs or into our community. There are no administration expenses paid out of our foundation. In FY23 alone (starting in July) we have made contributions to the following organizations:

• Harmonic
• NDAD
• Out of the Darkness
• Williston State College
• Relay for Life 
• TC4Hope
• YFC
• All City Halloween
• Coyote Booster Club
• Bras for a Cause
• Coyote Pups Daycare
• CVB Holiday Lights Drive
• TCS
• Williston ARC
• KML Dance
• High School Girls Competitive  Curling Team
• Williston Basin Curling Club
• Williston Area Chamber of Commerce
• Williston Police Department
• Williston Fire Department
• And Mondak Animal Rescue
• For a community investment of over $23,000.

Hospital Activities

Not only is the Foundation busy all year long. Our employees are also active in supporting the community. Here’s some highlights of the past year: 

• We have really enjoyed having the Coyote Pups Daycare on campus. 
• Clinic staff held a food drive for the Salvation Army in honor of Advanced Practice Provider week. 
• We have our diaper drive, mitten tree, coat drive and angel tree on now!
• With the help of our providers we also provide contributed content to not only the District 7 school newsletter but the Williston Herald, Teton Thunder magazine and the NDSU Alumni Magazine. 
• We brought back our employee newsletter and published our first edition in November. This has been a fun way for our employees to stay connected with each other.
• Jan 2023 we are launching a Youtube series featuring providers and hospital leadership. The goal will be to interview a different person monthly.
• The Gift Shop is participating in the Holiday Passport program through the Chamber of Commerce this year. They have so many great gift ideas and decorations so make sure you stop in and check them out. 
• Our Mammogram and Mimosa Saturday event was a success again, and we have two Well Child Saturday Clinics coming up. One in January and the other in February!
• We are excited to be event sponsors for the Holiday Lights Drive at Spring Lake Park on December 20th and sponsor the Reindeer Night!  The $500 we get to donate for working the booth will go to the Family Crisis Shelter. 

Adding It Up: 2022 Impact by the Numbers

How many people does the Foundation help? How much money is raised? Here’s some numbers that show our impact: 

• 16 local patients benefited from funds raised during our 1st annual Sugar Bust 5k in June.
• 72 employee donors donated an hour of their pay back to the hospital.
• 315 people participated in our inaugural Sugar Bust 5k to benefit Diabetes patients.
• 734 one-way trips were partially or completely paid for by a grant from the American Cancer Society.  
• $10,000 in funding the Foundation approved to offset the cost of Scalp Cooling treatments since this state-of-the-art treatment is not yet covered by insurance, and covers over half of the treatment cost.
• $23,000 Transportation Grant award from the American Cancer Society helped cover the  cost of transportation for our Oncology patients.

• $42,503 donated back to the hospital from employees through our Employee Giving Program, the Hour Club Giving Squad to date in 2022. 
• $31,330 raised at our Sugar Bust 5k for local Diabetes patients
• $54,576 raised at our annual Swing for a Cause Golf Classic to help fund the MedSurg facelift
• $2,669,000 million invested in charity care funds care that patients couldn’t otherwise afford.

What’s Next? Looking to the Future

We are continually building on our efforts so we can address the needs of our community. Here’s a snapshot of what’s coming in 2023. We hope you will join us in 

Capital Campaign for MedSurg (inpatient) units 

• This will have multiple giving levels with Suite Sponsors being the highest.
• Suite Sponsors will have the suites named after them with a plaque on the suite wall. 
• Other sponsors will have their names on the campaign donor wall which will be hung upon  completion of the facelift project.
• Updated, comfortable and calming spaces have been shown to decrease a patients’ length of stay and also decrease their medication intake, improving a patients’ overall healing process. 

2nd Annual Sugar Bust 5k for Diabetes Education 

• Will be held on Saturday, June 3rd, at Spring Lake Park.
• Proceeds to benefit local diabetes patients.  
• Funds will help offset the cost of specific diabetes exams and lab work.

Employee Wellness Room 

We are exploring funding to help combat burnout and depression within our team members. An audio/visual immersive room will allow team members to choose their calming space, or simply allow them a quiet space to call their families if that is what they need.

Kate’s Club 

This will roll back out next year and will include a CHI calendar with important dates and monthly health information. 

Highlights and Happy Hour 

As part of a rebrand of donor events, we are excited to introduce this new activity at the following locations: 

• The Eleven
• Pit 105 and Busted Knuckle
• Debano’s Bistro  

Hello Community Fair Day/Charity Concert, Goodbye Gold Classic

• In an effort to bring the community together, we will swap the Golf Classic for a Community Fair Day followed by a Charity Concert.    
• All community businesses will be encouraged to participate.
• Fair will be free of charge for the community; tickets will be sold for the evening charity concert. The date, location, and artist will be announced in 2023, along with more details.

Brittny Mayo - Foundation Development Coordinator