Memphis Shriners raise $115,000 for Shriners Hospital – St. Louis

November 6, 2009

ST. LOUIS – On Tuesday, Nov. 3, nearly 50 members of Al Chymia Shriners in Memphis, TN, made the five-hour trek to Shriners Hospitals for Children – St. Louis to bring a special delivery: a check for $115,000.

The Shriners raised the funds throughout the summer by selling $10 raffle tickets for a 2009 Boss Hoss motorcycle. In addition to attending motorcycle rallies and other events throughout the state to sell tickets, the Shriners also spent numerous summer evenings on Beale Street in Memphis, selling raffle tickets to tourists and visitors. The winning ticket was drawn Saturday, Sept. 24, at the National Boss Hoss Rally in Paris, TN. (The winner was from Camden, TN).

Six years ago, the company that makes Boss Hoss motorcycles approached the Shriners in Memphis about a possible fundraiser for Shriners Hospitals. Two members of the temple, Gayle Percival and Neil Blankenship, took the project to heart and got the whole temple involved. To date, Boss Hoss and the Al Chymia Shriners have raised more than $540,000 for our hospital. (Think of it this way: they raised more than a half million dollars in $10 increments)

As a bonus to this story, during last year’s Boss Hoss rally, we met the family of Dalton Overby, 12, who is a patient of Dr. Schoenecker’s. Overby’s family attended the rally because the Shriners were there and they simply wanted to meet a few of the men to say thank you for the care Dalton had received. Dalton became the “star” of the evening, as he got a pat on the back by nearly every Shriner there. Later, they invited him to the stage to draw winning ticket.

Today, Dalton is a patient ambassador for the hospital. Just last weekend, his family (mom Myra and dad Dale) held a fundraiser for the hospital in their hometown of Puryear, TN, and raised nearly $1,900.

Shriners Hospitals for Children is a one-of-a-kind pediatric hospital system dedicated to improving the lives of children through innovative research, education, and specialized treatment of orthopaedic conditions, burns, spinal cord injuries and cleft lip and palate. With 22 hospitals in the U.S., Canada and Mexico, Shriners Hospitals for Children is committed to providing expert, family-centered care at no charge. The St. Louis hospital is recognized throughout the Midwest as a leader in treating orthopaedic conditions, with some of the world’s most renowned surgeons, many of whom are faculty members at Washington University School of Medicine.

(Pictured: Celebrating a $115,000 donation to Shriners Hospitals for Children - St. Louis from the Al Chymia Shriners are, from left, John O'Shaughnessy, hospital administrator; Allen Smith, Al Chymia Shriners potentate; Jimmy Norman, hospital board representative and past potentate of Al Chymia Shriners; and Ray A. Rohr, chairman of the Board of Governors of Shriners Hospital - St. Louis)