Sweet It Is! How

from AY About You March 2023

Maxine

Chocolate Fantasy Ball Turns 20

By DWAIN HEBDA

f all the things patrons of the annual Chocolate Fantasy Ball have come to expect, two stand out. One is a really good time for a really good cause – supporting Ronald McDonald House Charities of Arkansas – punctuated by delectable chocolate creations served by the platterful.

The second is the presence of Dr. Whit Hall, neonatologist with UAMS and Arkansas Children’s Hospital, who is among a select few to have attended every Chocolate Fantasy Ball, which celebrates its 20th iteration on April 1. At each, Hall has been on hand to smile, schmooze and drum up donations to help pay operating expenses at Little Rock’s Ronald McDonald House and Ronald McDonald Family Room at UAMS.

As the elder stateman of the event, Hall remembers well how the inaugural event was a far cry from the star of the social calendar it is today.

“When we did the first Chocolate Fantasy Ball, I was actually chair of the Ronald McDonald House board,” Hall said. “It was a relatively small event. We held it at the then-Arkansas Arts Center, and there were probably 100 people that attended. We were tickled to get that.”

Linda Grimm, a former board member who was also instrumental in putting on the first ball, remembers the committee working on a shoestring to pull the event together through uncooperative weather.

“We only had, even counting all of our helpers, 11 people on the whole committee,” she said. “We had an ice storm, and many people were not able to get there from West Little Rock. Even our emcee was not able to get there.

“We worked really, really hard, but as we were setting up our chocolate donations, I had to laugh. It really looked more like a church potluck, because none of us had any experience setting up for a ball. Deanna Fleming, who was with Catering Creations, came in with this chocolate fountain, and she saw our arrangement on the table. She said very graciously, ‘Let me help you.’ She knew we needed all the help we could get.”

The maiden voyage may have been rocky, but the event struck a chord with the public. In Year Two, 400 people attended, and $90,000 was raised, nearly double the committee’s goal. The third event exceeded 400 tickets, topped $100,000, and the rest is history. Last year’s event welcomed a record 820 attendees and raised $720,000, and the hope is to surpass even that in 2023.

“It makes me proud that we started it,” Grimm said. “I can’t take any credit for what it’s become because it’s amazing, just amazing.”

Sheila Vaught, an event planner and RMHC board member, said the gala has enjoyed such growth because of its fundamental appeal and worthy cause.

“Our joke is why wouldn’t somebody come to a gala where you get dessert first?” she said. “I do several other charities; I’ve been to lots of galas. But this is such a different concept.

“I think people come to this event because they know where the money’s going and they know that it’s supporting the Ronald McDonald House in Little Rock, Arkansas. That’s why I think it’s continued as long as it has and people still come and support it.”

Vaught also heaped praise on the staff of the organization, led by CEO Janell

Past and present board members Linda Grimm, Sheila Vaught and Stephanie Fletcher (clockwise from lower left).

Mason, calling their commitment to their cause inspiring.

“It goes from the top all the way down to the last volunteer, because they feel that commitment,” Vaught said. “Janell is a magnificent leader; she lives Ronald McDonald House 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The entire staff is very, very committed to that event, and we have a wonderful board and a wonderful committee. People come and volunteer not only at the ball, but other events at the house because people love to come there and work for that reason.”

*****

To see Annabelle Fletcher is to watch joy in motion. The precocious 5-year-old runs and plays like any other child her age, one moment shadowing her older sister Madeline, the next moment marching into adventures of her own.

“She’s the boss,” said her mother, Stephanie. “She’s doing really, really well right now, and we are riding that wave.”

From the beginning, Annabelle’s chances of prancing and playing as she does have been largely tilted out of her favor. Born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, a congenital defect where the left side of the heart is underdeveloped, she’s endured multiple major surgeries to literally keep her blood flowing. Babies born with her condition were once quietly ushered directly to hospice, Stephanie said. But modern medicine has advanced to give Annabelle a fighting chance, albeit one paid for in hospital stays, miles of surgical tubing, hundreds of needle sticks and no guarantees.

Yet here she is with a spirit barely contained by her small body, as if it would radiate through the jagged seam running down her front like the glow of lightning bugs streaming from a jar. For Annabelle, every moment is a miracle.

“There are many like her that haven’t made it this far, and then there are some like her who have gone on to have a transplant,” said her mother, her gaze resting lightly on her youngest. “We just have our fingers crossed that her heart stays strong.”

Like many parents of seriously ill children, Stephanie and her husband Derek, who run a poultry operation in Cord outside of Batesville, were shell-shocked by Annabelle’s diagnosis — and the prospect of spending weeks at Arkansas Children’s Hospital, about two hours from home. With a farm to run and another child to care for, sorting out what to do next was overwhelming.

When a social worker at the hospital mentioned Ronald McDonald House, the duo knew little about the organization. Ninety days later, when Annabelle finally got to go home, they were disciples.

“Ronald McDonald House really is a lifesaver in the grandest sense of that word,” said Stephanie, who now serves on the board. “When the rest of the world truly doesn’t understand what you’re going through, they try to.

“They really do step in during the darkest hours, and they don’t ask for any recognition while you’re there. Zero is asked of you except, “Hey, come get some sleep and go take care of your kid the next day.” They want you to go be with your child. They want you to be rested, so you can be the best parent you can be.” ****

Stories like Annabelle’s aren’t uncommon at Ronald McDonald House, where families from Arkansas and out-of-state find respite while their child receives critical care. In 2021, 422 families spent nearly 5,700 nights at the house and the family room and consumed more than 37,600 meals, saving those families almost $900,000 between hotels and takeout. While some choose to pay a pittance for the services, no family is ever compelled to do so.

But for the thousands of family dramas that have played out within those walls over the years – some triumphant, some tragic – it was one that was missed that has kept Hall connected to the organization for more than a quarter century.

“I first got involved with Ronald McDonald House because of a family who was from southwest Arkansas, just a wonderful family,” he said. “I came on call one night, and I called them and told them I was worried about their baby. They said they were going to try to get up there but were having trouble getting to the hospital and wanted to know if I thought the baby would be OK in the morning. I reassured them the baby seemed to be turning around and doing a little better, and I thought the baby would be OK through the night.

“As it turned out, the baby took a turn for the worse pretty quickly about midnight and died. The family never could get up here. It just broke my heart that they couldn’t be able to hold their baby and be able to comfort their baby — and comfort themselves knowing they were there at the last moments of their baby’s life. I vowed at that time that I would do everything I could to allow families to be with their babies as much as they could.”

Over the years, Hall has had a ringside seat as the organization moved into new, larger quarters, launched the family room and grew its mobile dentistry program, which brings free dental care to kids in communities across the state.

“It’s really a worthwhile organization,” he said. “Every single penny of the money that we raise stays here in central Arkansas, and it’s used to directly help families. Ronald McDonald House also has a long history of being frugal with their spending, and they do not buy things they don’t need. I’ve been on several nonprofit boards, and this is one that really, really does an outstanding job.”

At this, Hall paused. He knows the organization can’t accommodate every family, but he’s seen capacity and services grow to help so many, all of whom remind him of the family who affected him so deeply. And that is why his 20th Chocolate Fantasy Ball will be every bit as sweet as the first.

“People like Linda Grimm and other board members really did just an outstanding job on that first Chocolate Fantasy Ball. Since that time, it has increased to the event that it is today,” he said. “It’s where it is because the money raised makes it possible for parents to be there with their babies at a critical time. The people who come out and support us realize how important that is for our families.”

To learn more, purchase gala tickets or to make a donation, please visit rmhcarkansas.org.

As Annabelle Fletcher, now 5, battled long odds as a baby, her parents stayed close and found respite at Ronald McDonald House in Little Rock. Hundreds of sick children and their families are served in this same manner every year. Photos courtesy of Stephanie Fletcher.

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