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28th annual Fall Dinner Auction benefits St. Louis Center

(Chelsea Update would like to thank Joe Yekulis for the information in this story and Kelly Flaherty for the photos in this gallery.)

In perhaps the highest profile event of the year for St. Louis Center, the Fall Dinner Auction at St. Joseph Mercy-Chelsea, reached its 28th year in 2015.

Begun as an outreach effort between the Chelsea community and St. Louis Center in 1987, this event has become one of the most successful fundraisers for the operations of the center during its 55-year history.

According to founding auction supporter Will Johnson, former CEO of Chelsea Hospital, “We started this event as a way to show the Servants of Charity that there were many people in the Chelsea Community who cared deeply about the children and adults who were living at the Center.” All of the food, facilities, and staff for the evening are donated by the hospital.

The event was chaired by Kathi Neuman, who had the assistance of a committee of 20 people from throughout the community. “Once again, many people came together to make this a successful event. I can’t thank my committee members and the hospital staff enough, along with all of the people who came out to support our event again this year,” said Neuman. “The real winners are the residents of St. Louis Center who are developmentally disabled and need our help to provide them with a great quality of life.”

Special guests this year included the trustees of the Harry A. and Margaret D. Towsley Foundation, who recently awarded a foundation grant to St. Louis Center for the creation of three new children’s homes. Members of the State Council of the Michigan Knights of Columbus were also present to make a significant donation to St. Louis Center.

Joseph Merkel, Jr. returned as this year’s auctioneer, and PR Director Joe Yekulis served as the emcee for the evening.

St. Louis Center is a residential care facility for children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities located five miles west of Chelsea in Sylvan Township, and is run by the Servants of Charity.

Please visit www.stlouiscenter.org for more information.

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1 thought on “28th annual Fall Dinner Auction benefits St. Louis Center”

  1. I have been a member of this committee for over 20 years, and this is one of the best fundraisers I have ever worked on. We added new members to the committee this year, and it made things run alot smoother. It was great working with all of you.

    Thank you, Joe, for the great article and for all you do for the Center.

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