Samaritan Auxiliary’s 2020 One Night, One Diamond Event Cancelled due to COVID-19 Concerns
Published on: May 15, 2020
Samaritan Auxiliary, in an abundance of caution and given the uncertainty of when large groups will be able to congregate again, regretfully announces the cancellation of this year’s One Night, One Diamond event. The event that had been scheduled for March 28 was initially postponed due to the concerns related to COVID-19. We are mindful of the impact of our actions on our community, our health care workers, as well as our health care system.
Samaritan Auxiliary continues to be committed to our mission of serving as ambassadors and volunteers to support healthcare programs and improving the quality of care in the Samaritan system through volunteer activities and financial support. The One Night, One Diamond event is Samaritan Auxiliary’s only community fundraising event. It has been extremely successful in raising the funds needed to purchase state-of-the-art equipment for Samaritan Medical Center through the generosity of our event sponsors, donors, and our supporters that purchased tickets.
The proceeds from this year’s event are earmarked to support Samaritan’s new Mohs micrographic surgery service. For the first time in the North Country, Mohs micrographic surgery will be offered at Samaritan Medical Center to treat skin cancer. This specialized tissue-conserving surgical technique offers the highest skin cancer cure rate, while preserving uninvolved skin around the cancer. Dr. Nathanial Miletta, Chief of Mohs Surgery at Samaritan will be leading this effort.
The Mohs equipment for this program is in place. We are hopeful that we can present the check for the equipment to Samaritan Medical Center in the near future. We hope that our sponsors, donors, and ticket holders will be able to continue to support the Auxiliary in this effort.
For those who have purchased tickets and would like to donate the ticket purchase to the Mohs equipment, we will assume that this is your choice if we do not hear from you. For those of you who are unable to support this cause this year, we fully understand the unusual circumstances and the economic impact that this pandemic has created. Please contact the Auxiliary at [email protected] or 315 408-7895 and we will gladly issue a refund for your ticket.
We thank the community for the support they have provided to Samaritan Auxiliary’s One Night, One Diamond event over the past 15 years. We look forward to the day when we can once again gather together to celebrate in support of the advancement of healthcare at Samaritan Medical Center.
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About Samaritan Auxiliary
The Samaritan Auxiliary was established in 1896 to serve as ambassadors and volunteers to support and enhance healthcare programs at the House of the Good Samaritan. As a 501(c)(3) organization, the Samaritan Auxiliary and its 232 members, composed entirely of volunteers, play a vital role today in improving the quality of care in the Samaritan system through volunteer activities and financial support. The total volunteer hours for 2019 was 20,667 between Samaritan Medical Center, Samaritan Keep Home and Samaritan Summit Village. Since 2006 when the event began raising funds for equipment, Samaritan Auxiliary’s One Night, One Diamond proceeds have purchased over $650,000 in equipment for Samaritan Medical Center.
The Auxiliary owns and manages the Gift Shops at the Samaritan Medical Center, Samaritan Keep Home and Samaritan Summit Village, as well as the Starbucks Coffee Shop at the Medical Center and along with uniform sales, as well as membership dues, it provided funding for support of programs, services and the pledge commitment. The Auxiliary had provided its most recent annual pledge commitment to the Capital Campaign of $500,000 for the Walker Center for Cancer Care.
Among last year’s Auxiliary highlights is the 2019 One Night, One Diamond event where proceeds purchased the tissue tracker for tissue implants at Samaritan Medical Center and an Oncologic Navigation System to help manage the continuum of care for oncology patients at the Walker Center for Cancer Center. Additionally, the sales from the shops and uniform sales provide the funding for programs and services at Samaritan. Here are some examples: the Auxiliary had provided our youngest patients in the Emergency Department and Surgical Care Center with stuffed animals, coloring books and crayons, provided two $1500 scholarships to Samaritan employees to further their education, funded and provided tours at Samaritan Medical Center to 400 second graders of Jefferson County, trained 76 new volunteers for SMC, SKH, and SSV, including college students and teen volunteers, provided a flower for each SSV and SKH residents’ birthday, and provided 17 copies of the Watertown Daily Times for patients at SMC daily. Additionally, the Auxiliary had continued the WHALE (We Have A Little Emergency) child safety seat ID program [email protected] and That’s Using Your Head, a helmet ID safety program [email protected], in conjunction with our Kinney Drugs Foundation partner and 7News/Fox28/MeTV North Country media partner.