Chris at LRMC: Chris Rakunas, Lehigh Regional Medical Center's chief operating officer, addresses the large group of people who attended the hospital's fund raiser for Hope Hospice House. He was one of several wearing a cowboy hat at the festivities. Photo by Mel Toadvine

Hospital officials at Lehigh Regional Medical Center are happy with the turnout and the amount of money they were able to raise for the new Hope Hospice House to be be built in Lehigh off of Stacey Blvd.

Chris Rakunas today said that LRMC’s barbecue held on Friday, March 13, brought many people to the front lawn of the hospital to enjoy hamburgers,

hot dogs, ears of corn and all that goes with it.

And as a result of the barbecue, Rakunas said $6,700 was raised for the new Hope Hospice House to be built in Lehigh.

Tables were set up under a tent and several other tables were set up not far from the hospital’s

Crowds at LRMC: This is just some of the people who turned out early at Lehigh Regional Medical Center's fundraising barbecue to raise money to help build a Hope Hospice house in Lehigh. Photo by Mel Toadvine

entrance.

Hospital staffers and volunteers manned the ticket table and the barbecue grill. The event began at 4 p.m. and continued for a couple of hours. Tickets

were $10 and many were sold weeks before the barbecue was held. Rakunas, with a cowboy hat on, thanked those who turned out and named a long

list of sponsors of the event that helped the hospital with funding. He wasn’t the only one wearing a cowboy hat. Some could be spotted in the crowd and the guys cooking the burgers and hot dogs on a giant-sized grill sported cowboy hats, too.

“It’s a barbecue,” one of them shouted. “That’s what you war to a western barbecue.”

Manning ticket table: Maria Garcia, a marketing director at LRMC, and Myra Kessler, an honorary co-chairman of the drive to raise money to build a Hope Hospice House in Lehigh, sold tickets at the fundraiser on Friday, March 13. Photo by Mel Toadvine

Rev. Don Rock, the hospital’s chaplain was on hand to offer a blessing, but not until several people turned out and found seats and began eating.

Although the barbecue began at 4 p.m., most people began attending at 5 p.m. after work.

At the table taking tickets and selling them on the spot were Myra Kessler, a longtime supporter of special events in Lehigh, and a Hope Hospice honorary co-chairman, and Maria Garcia, a marketing director at LRMC.

Temperatures were in the low 80s and it appeared that people were enjoying themselves. Several came with tickets and took their meals home in take-out

containers.

These volunteers manned the big grill, cooking burgers and hotdogs for the fundraiser at Lehigh Regional Medical Center. Photo by Mel Toadvine

The Hope Hospice House is planned on a site off of Beth Stacey Blvd., on land given them by the Community Health Association (CHA), a group that has been in existence since the first sale of the old Lehigh hospital several years ago. It has invested the proceeds and helps with donations for medical purposes in the community.

These volunteers manned the big grill, cooking burgers and hotdogs for the fundraiser at Lehigh Regional Medical Center. Photo by Mel Toadvine

Tom Williams and his wife, Joan, were two of many who attended LRMC's barbecue to raise money for a Hope Hospice House in Lehigh. Photo by Mel Toadvine