You like contests? We got a contest!

Mendo Mill and Mendo Lake Credit Union have teamed up for a holiday charitable campaign.  North County residents who contribute $10 or more to Mendocino County charities between now and Christmas Eve will receive a $10 gift card from Mendo Mill.  Bring in the receipt from your charitable donation to any Mendo Mill store.  Cashiers will issue a free $10 gift card, no purchase necessary, limit one card per individual.

What a great way to leverage your local donations! Many folks are using the gift card as gift for the holidays as a stocking stuffer or donating them back to another local charity that could use supplies from Mendo Mill ie Commonwealth Gardens, Willits Kids Club, Willits Senior Center, Willits Food Bank, etc. For example, if you make a $10 donation to the Howard Foundation and turn around and donate your gift card to another local charity then you are actually donating $20! Double your money! If we have a couple hundred donors take advantage of this promotion then we can all really pitch in to create a WIN-WIN situation for our community.

You can make a secure donation HERE.   Print your receipt to give to Mendo Mill,you may also mail in a check or give us a call at 459-3047.

We are going to provide you with a small incentive to get the most of your local charitable dollars with a special drawing.

Each person that donates $10 or more through December 24 will go into a drawing. The prize is a gift basket of Howard Foundation items including 2 Mendocino County bottles of wine (or sparkling cider), 2 wine glasses that are etched with the HMH logo along with the Mendocino County Wine Commission ogo, a Howard Foundation “We Believe in the Possible” T-shirt, Howard Foundation Cookbook and License Plate Holder. The drawing will be held on Monday, December 28.

Thank you for your continued support and for taking advantage of such a great promotion from Mendo Mill and Mendo Lake Credit Union.

Click HERE to make your donation and enter contest!

A Day at the Races

“A Day at the Races Part II:  The Bedpan Strikes Back” was held  Saturday, August 15, 2009.    This “fun for the whole family” summer evening event had it all covered . . . food, live music, a kid’s zone, informational booths, and the bed races.  The hospital bed races served as the cornerstone of the event with each team eligible for prizes and recognition. Contests ranged from the best-decorated bed to teams that raised the most money by collecting sponsorships and donations.

A sincere thank you to our teams:  Sherwood Valley Rancheria and Casino, Willits Lion’s Club, HMH – Med Surg, Sparetime Suppy, HMH – Misfits, Willits Rotary Club, HMH – Dietary, Shanachie Pub, Willits Soroptimist and Main Street Music and Video.

Food was being catered by Kemmy’s Smokehouse BBQ Shack with the Willits Lion’s Club handling all refreshments (soda, water and beer). The Boy Scouts were on hand with their “Monkey Bridge” for kids of all ages to enjoy.  Ms. Tina dazzled the crowd with her dynamic hula hoop performances.

Each team consisted of five people each and raced two teams at a time on the Haehl Creek Drive “track.”  This was a single elimination event with each winning team moving onto the next round and continuing until there was a winner who can claimed, “The Bedpan of Champions” trophy.  Congratulations to this year’s winner, Sparetime Supply who narrowly defeated the defending champions, Misfits from HMH, in a heated final.

A unique twist to this year’s event was that each ticket purchased went into a drawing for a signed Eric Clapton guitar, a Corona CA, Black Custom Stratocaster mix copy of which he played since the Jimi Hendrix days.

Check out our Facebook page for pictures and details!

Signature Event

The Frank R. Howard Foundation’s Signature Event “Down the Home Stretch” was a great success. On October 10th, the Willits Community Center was transformed into an elegant venue where all guests were able to enjoy a classy event. This lovely fall evening had it all…a live and silent auction, wines, ales, sparkling ciders, tapas-style appetizers, music, dancing and an opportunity to offer support for the new hospital.

The event would not have been possible without the work of a group of committed volunteers. We’d like to thank committee chair Linda Buletti, along with her team, Donna Stropes, Roxanne Lemos-Neese, Linda McEntire, Gail Richards, Ginny Holmen, Judy Donaldson, Jolene Carrillo, Louise Holsten, Dona Fridae and Gary Martin as they organized the event from beginning to end. This committed group of people put in countless hours of time and energy to make the evening possible. A big thank you also goes to our sponsors who helped underwrite much of the expense associated with the event: Sparetime Supply, Howard Memorial Hospital, Adventist Health and Northern Aggregates/Mendocino Construction Services.

The food was an absolute delight and was provided by Kilkenny’s Kitchen along with local preparers, Ann Alumbaugh, Dana Lewis, Dorothy Roediger, Kathryn Sterngold, Linda Relin, Sulin Bell, Hellagood Desserts, Kathleen Lewis and Howard Memorial Hospital. The evening’s entertainment provided by The Bassics was timeless. Thanks also to Hal Wagenet of Modern Music Sound Services for providing sound and lighting, The Shifters for helping with parking, Ron Greystar Photography for taking such amazing photos, our auctioneer Voris Brumfield who did a fantastic job with our live auction and to the staff at the City of Willits who provided remarkable support. We are also grateful to the dozens of volunteers, local businesses and wineries that made valuable contributions of time, money and merchandise that made the event a success.

Last, but certainly not least, thank you to all the members of our community as you continue to keep the dream alive with your unwavering support. Here at the Howard Foundation, we are extremely grateful and we can’t wait to celebrate together when we cut the ribbon for the new Frank R. Howard Memorial Hospital!

Wine and Mushroom Train

On Saturday, November 7th, the Frank R. Howard Foundation hosted the Wine Mushroom Train, which was the headline event for the 2009 Mendocino County Wine Mushroom Fest running November 6-15, 2009.  More than 150 patrons were aboard the Skunk Train for a majestic trip through the redwoods to Camp Mendocino.  The event was a great success with proceeds going directly to the Howard Hospital Building Fund and was a collaboration of many organizations working together to achieve results that benefited everyone involved.

Guests began arriving at the Willits Skunk Train Depot at 9 am and were treated to an array of coffee, tea and pastries from Kemmy’s Katering and Pies. The Skunk Train, which donated the use of the train for the day, departed at 10:30 am and headed deep into the heart of the redwoods.

Train Singer, Greg Schindel,

serenaded guests as they moved from car to car, including the observation deck where they were able to take in the beautiful autumn day.  Upon arrival at Camp Mendocino, an intimate room with a fireplace ablaze, hosted the silent auction and wine tasting served by several Mendocino County Wineries that included:

Chance Creek Vineyards

CORO Mendocino

Handley Cellars

Jaxon Keys Winery

Magnanimus Wine Group

McFadden Vineyard

Parducci Wine Cellars

Weibel Family Vineyards & Winery

The lunch menu, which was inspired by Chef and Author Jack Czarnecki, was inspired

by Chef and Author Jack Czarnecki, was prepared and served by Chef Oscar of the Phantom Café.  During lunch, guests were treated to live music provided by “The Bassics”, along with messages from Foundation President, Margie Handley, local mushroom expert Eric Schramm, Dr. Bruce Andich and Jack Czarnecki.

“We are very pleased to have been able to work with so many different organizations from Mendocino County and we feel that everyone was able to benefit by working together.  In addition to many local people we had attendees from places as far as Canada, Oregon, Florida and Washington, DC.  We were able to tell the story of the new Howard Hospital to a wider audience and succeeded in expanding our donor base,” explains Ian Fitzpatrick of the Howard Foundation. “We’d like to thank all of the people and organizations that participated in the event, and we would especially like to thank our guests who chose to spend the day with us.”

Meet the Chef:

In a nationwide talent search in 1987 Jack Czarnecki was named one of the top 16 chefs in the country by the James Beard Foundation out of a field of 550 chefs in North America.

Jack has appeared on about television stations across the country including “Good Morning America” (two times), “The Home Show,” “Regis and Kathy Lee,” “the 60 Minute Gourmet,” “CBS Morning News,” and several cable features including three appearances on the Television Food Network, the Discovery channel, and QVC.

Magazine features include half a dozen features in airline magazines, Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Food & Wine, Gourmet, Bon Appetit, Harrowsmith, The New York Times Sunday Magazine, People, and Town & Country among others.

Jack and Heidi, fulfilled a lifelong dream and opened The Joel Palmer House in Dayton, Oregon, which has received outstanding reviews in Food and Wine, and the New York Times as well as being named Restaurant of the Region by Willamette Week magazine in Portland.