Hogs for Hospice raises over $1M

By Mark Ribble

The Hogs for Hospice Volunteer Appreciation Night at the Roma Club on October 12 was a huge success with a payoff at the end that many were not expecting.

Each year — outside of COVID — the Hogs for Hospice Committee shows its appreciation to the hundreds of volunteers who helped with the event by holding an appreciation dinner for those who pitched in to help in any way.

This year’s dinner featured a packed house with over 400 people attending to enjoy the great Roma Club food and some camaraderie while they awaited the announcement of the final tally raised at the 2022 Hogs for Hospice Rally.

When the seven committee members took the stage, all eyes were on them and the banner that they held ready to unfurl.

“This idea was born having coffee on a Saturday morning,” said committee member Donny Pacheco. “And we said wouldn’t it be awesome if we had one event during the year that could fund our Erie Shores Hospice for an entire year.”

Pacheco explained that the goal was to have one event, once a year, where they all came together to raise enough funds to support the facility that we all needed in our community.

“Guess what folks, we did it,” he said, before unrolling the banner one digit at a time, eventually getting to the total of $1,006,132 — a new H4H record total. Thanks to the generosity of the community, volunteers and sponsors and a hefty 50-50 raffle that also set new records, the event hit its highest mark ever.

Those in attendance cheered and gave a lengthy standing ovation to the committee, with work on next year’s event already underway.

The Hogs for Hospice Committee with this year’s grand total banner, showing the $1,006,132 tally. From left are Donny Pacheco, Tim Iles, Dave Hodare, Benji Mastronardi, Joe Oswald, Kevin Saffrance and Brian Cornies.