Backyard Cookout Raises Over $1,000 for Children’s Hospital

Donna & Ramsey Shepardson wanted to host a party this summer with all of their family and friends present. Rather than just throwing a party, they decided to make it a fundraiser instead, choosing Children’s Hospital as the beneficiary and making way for the 1st Annual Crabgrass Festival. It wasn’t until Donna visited Children’s Hospital prior to the event that she realized this was her grandfather’s childhood home.

Ray Ridgeway was one of Children’s Hospital’s earliest patients, beginning his treatment in 1931, at age 8. He was in and out of the hospital for years, living in the boys ward for many of them, until he turned 18 in 1941. He had a condition called osteomyelitis, an inflammation of the bones caused by infection. He was told he would never walk, but after combining numerous orthopedic surgeries with his determined personality, he did.

Donna grew up hearing her mother, LaNette Krug and aunts Cheryl Clay and Vickie Turnamian, tell stories about their father and his memories of his childhood in a hospital, but never knew exactly where that hospital was located. After touring the building and learning some of the history she knew this was the place her grandfather spent so many years.

With this in mind, Donna and Ramsey got to work - contacting family, friends and business associates to get donations of food and drinks, t-shirts and prizes.

“Donna and Ramsey really went out of their way to open their home to friends and family to raise money for the hospital. Using their personal connections they were able to plan a spectacular party to benefit our many young patients in memory of Donna’s grandfather,” commented Kerry Kent Blumberg, Director of Special Events.

Nearly 75 people attended the 1st Annual Crabgrass Festival on July 31, and through raffles, t-shirt sales and donations they raised close to $1200 for Children’s Hospital. But for Donna, this isn’t enough. She is already thinking ahead, planning ways that next year’s event can be bigger and better, demonstrating that her grandfather’s caring nature definitely lives on.

- Originally published in Children’s Hospital Magazine, Fall 2005. 

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