Mercy Basket Raffle Raises $14,500 For Second Cancer Survivors Day

SPRINGFIELD – Thirty people walked away with ‘baskets’ from a raffle at Mercy Medical Center, but the prizes were much more than that.

One was a stainless-steel grill. Another a wheelbarrow full of garden supplies. Still another was a backyard hammock stuffed with toys, a children’s pool, and anything one could imagine for backyard fun. The winners, and the hundreds of others who bought a raffle ticket at Mercy Medical Center, contributed to the final tally of $14,500, which will be used to help fund the 2nd annual Sr. Caritas Cancer Center Survivors Day, Sept. 11 at Six Flags New England in Agawam. The event, to honor cancer patients, survivors and their loved ones, is free of charge to participants.

“This is fantastic. It doubles what we raised last year, the first year,” said Frank Claudio, director of the Sr. Caritas Center at Mercy Medical Center. Employees and friends of Mercy Medical Center pitched in to create 30 themed ‘baskets.’

Claudio estimated the goods and their baskets were worth more than $10,000, and he thanked the employees at Mercy and Sisters of Providence Health System who he said “poured a lot of love” into a project for a good cause. But the camaraderie and fun that erupted at Mercy during the display and sale of the baskets the week of June 5 energized everyone at Mercy, Claudio said. “Employees and departments try to outdo each year. It’s a real competition,” said Marilyn Haryasz, an administrative assistant at Mercy and a member of the organizing committee for Survivors Day.

The theme for this year’s event is “A Day for Heroes.” The Survivors Day event is expected to become a signature event for Mercy cancer patients and their loved ones.