Gift lifts Hutch Holiday Gala to $4.2 million

Center News

Susie Morganti's challenge gift inspires generous response from patrons at 32nd annual Center fundraiser

Photo by Gary Bylund Susie Morganti, center with baby Ben Hardy, donated $500,000 to inspire others to give at the Hutch Holiday Gala. "We were pleased to present the Hutch Holiday Gala challenge in honor of loved ones we've lost," said Morganti's nephew, Gary Bylund, far left. Morganti made her donation in memory of her late husband, Johnny, sitting with cane, and her late niece, Jackie Bylund, kneeling, left. Also pictured are family members Erika Hardy, Elisa Bylund and Erika's husband, Brian Hardy.

A $500,000 challenge gift helped push donations to more than $4.2 million at the Dec. 1 Hutch Holiday Gala, the Center's largest fundraising event.

During the Help the Hutch portion of the event, Susie Morganti, of Bellevue, challenged the audience to match her $500,000 gift. Morganti lost her husband, Johnny, to cancer last summer after 73 years of marriage. After his death, Morganti decided to make her gift in memory of Johnny and her late niece, Jackie Bylund. Morganti, who also celebrated her 95th birthday on Dec. 1, said she was inspired by the prospect of leveraging more donations for cancer research.

Honoring loved ones

"We were pleased to present the Hutch Holiday Gala challenge in honor of loved ones we've lost," said Gary Bylund, Morganti's nephew. "In one way or another, most of us have experienced life changes because of cancer. The Hutch Holiday Gala is our opportunity to positively impact cancer research at the Center and, thereby, the lives of our family and friends."

In addition to responding generously to the Help the Hutch appeal, Gala patrons opened their pocketbooks for a variety of auction items. Some of the more competitive items included dinner for 20 with the Hutchinson Center's three Nobel laureates and 2007 MacArthur Fellow Dr. Mark Roth, which sold for $26,000; a Lake Union cruise and scavenger hunt with four distinguished winemakers, $19,000; and an Alaskan king crab dinner prepared by Seattle chef Tom Douglas and attended by Capt. Sig Hansen of The Discovery Channel's reality show "Deadliest Catch," $20,000.

The evening's festivities also included the presentation of the 2007 Distinguished Community Service Award to philanthropists and longtime Center supporters J. Orin and Charlene A. Edson.

Since its inception, the Gala has raised more than $58 million in support of key research initiatives, patients and family programs. The Grace Heffernan Arnold Guild and the Hutch Holiday Gala board of trustees present the Gala.

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