Villa Voices: Light of Hearts Villa raises $128,000 at inaugural Light the Way Gala

Thursday, December 08, 2022

Tags: Light of Hearts Villa , health care

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More than 250 people came together earlier this year to celebrate the mission and ministry of Light
of Hearts Villa at the first annual Light the Way Gala. Supporters helped raise $128,000 to support a fund for
residents who have outlived their financial resources. An article about the gala plus more news and updates appear in the fall/winter edition of Villa Voices, which is the bi-annual newsletter of Light of Hearts Villa.

Read the full text of the article below or access the full newsletter here.

Light the Way Gala Raises Historic Amount of $128,000

More than 250 people came together August 26 to celebrate the mission and ministry of Light of Hearts Villa at the first annual Light the Way Gala on the grounds of Saint Monica Church in Garfield Heights. Generous supporters at the gala helped raise $128,000 to support the Sister Helen T. Scasny, SC Benevolent Fund, which supports residents who have outlived their financial resources.

The evening featured a silent auction, raffle, an open bar and plated dinner prepared by Normandy Catering, as well as remarks from Sisters of Charity Health System President and CEO Jan Murphy and heartwarming words from Light of Hearts Villa resident Sam Jackson.

“I am continuously blown away each and every year by how much this community shows up to support our work. Between selling out the bourbon raffle tickets, having 34 event sponsors and over 250 guests in attendance, this was our most successful fundraising event ever held. I am just so thankful,” said Amy Huntley, director of development and communications. “A very special shout-out and sincere thank you to our event sponsor, the Ursuline Sisters of Cleveland, for their generous commitment and support of our mission. Our entire community really does make my job easy.”

The fund-a-need portion of the event raised funds to help complete facility upgrades that began in 2021. The entire first floor hallway was fully renovated in 2021. With the $12,000 raised from the fund-a-need appeal at the gala, another full section of a hallway will be able to be completed by the end of 2022.

“You can truly tell that our mission and our heart for this work resonates with our supporters. They show up for us time and time again. We say it a lot, but we really couldn’t fulfill this work without philanthropic donations and without events like the gala – it just wouldn’t be possible. We’re grateful that we have this army behind us that cares for our residents as much as we do,” said Breanne Cavileer, executive director.

Light of Hearts Villa is a ministry of the Sisters of Charity Health System.