Sarah Bush Lincoln Health Foundation raised more than $20,000 at this year’s Cheers!, an event to support the SBL Volunteer Guild Scholarship program. More than 250 attended Cheers! which featured the band 8South out of Nashville, TN in a large cocktail party atmosphere.
New to Cheers! this year was a Hold’em-style Poker Tournament, that awarded prizes to the top five winners. The overall winner of the tournament was SBL Clinic Supervisor Nate Brettin.
Cheers! also hosted a raffle for a chance to win a one carat diamond ring, donated by Towne Square Jewelers. The winner was SBL Occupational Therapist Amanda Rennert.
Kim Lockart, SBL special events officer, said Cheers! is a great example of people coming together to help students in the community we serve. “It’s heartwarming to see all the support that Cheers! received this year,” she said. “Affording college can be difficult, but because of the tremendous community support, students in SBL’s 10-county service area have the chance to continue their education and pursue a career in the medical field.”
Scholarships are awarded to students in SBL’s service area for an academic year and are based on a student’s scholastic achievement, financial need and the availability of funds. This year’s scholarship application deadline is April 15, for the 2023-2024 school year. Selection of recipients is made in early May. Since 1979, the Volunteer Guild has awarded more than $819,000 in scholarships to students who are pursuing their educations in medically related fields.
Scholarship applications are available online at www.sarahbush.org/volunteerservices. For more information contact Tracy Haddock, Volunteer Services director, at 217-258-4180.
SBL thanks Dr. Gary and Kathy Mikel and Gary and Jeri Morris for sponsoring Cheers! at the Pay-it-Forward level. SBL also thanks the following sponsors at the VIP 1 level: David, Marci and Blake Barth; Bergfeld Properties; Val Boroughs; First Neighbor Bank; McCarthy Building Co.; Bob Oetting and Associates; SC3F Wealth Management; Smith Law, LTD; Utz + Associates Architects, PC; and K. Wohltman Construction, Inc. The VIP II sponsors: Drs. Roger and Ann Beck; Kathlene Shank Harshman in memory of Doug Shank; Morgan’s Meat Market; Slumberland Furniture; and Bill and Kim Uphoff.
