The Ellsworth County Medical Center (ECMC) Auxiliary’s annual fundraiser, Jingle Bell Shop & Sell, is bursting with good buys and more vendor tables than ever before. New vendors have signed up and many of your favorite vendors are returning. The action will start at 9 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 2 and end at 2 p.m.

Auxiliary booths will include:

• Grandma’s General Store is packed with quality items at bargain prices. Thanks to the generosity of many down-sizing folks, there are furniture and household items including desks, beds, tables, couches, chairs, occasional pieces, an antique Edison victrola, bookcases and much more.

• Homemade cookies by the pound (you choose the variety). Literally hundreds of dozens of cookies sell out.

• Decorated and personalized 5-inch sugar cookies in a presentation box. They delight a child and are a nice way of saying “thinking of you” or “thank you”.

• Food court will start early with hot coffee and cinnamon rolls. Lunch items (bierocks, chili, chili dogs, hot dogs, burritos, etc.) will be available just outside Grandma’s General Store.

• Santa will be present from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Bring your camera and snap a memory.

• 50-50 Cash Raffle tickets sold at entrance registration tables where you can also renew your auxiliary dues, or make donations to the hospital auxiliary.

• More than 30 vendors have already signed up offering unique crafts, gifts, clothing, food items, books, jewelry, kids toys, pet items, accessories, Christmas wreaths and decorations, wood and metal work, recycled art glass, baby gifts, Pampered Chef ... and more.

• The children’s booth should be of special interest to parents. It will offer free hands-on crafts, activities, and entertainment for kids while their parents shop.

Why do we do this?

The mission of the ECMC Auxiliary is to provide service and support to our hospital and its patients. We recently purchased cell phone charging stations for the hospital and ER waiting room and a replacement recumbent bicycle for Cardiac Rehab.

Specific goals for next year include the purchase of a specialized patient transport chair for radiology which would be used by eight different subdepartments.

The chair accommodates oxygen tanks and IVs and often allows patients to be X-rayed while remaining in the chair.

The auxiliary also provides $3,000 in scholarships every year to students in health care professions, buys $400 in magazine subscriptions for waiting rooms, and provides an ongoing supply of teddy bears for anxious children.

Auxiliary members also recognize the medical center’s eight providers with a gift on Provider’s Day, and serve as hostesses for hospital events whenever requested.

To date, the cumulative total of auxiliary gifts to the hospital since 1976 is over $250,000.