Cancer Center Gala Features Tastings, Auctions

The Benefits of Home Gala will feature offerings from local chefs, unlimited libations, live music and live auctions.

  The Greater Northshore President’s Council’s annual Benefits of Home Gala benefiting Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center at St. Tammany Parish Hospital will be held from 6:30-10:30 p.m. Aug. 21 at Franco’s Health Club and Spa, 100 Bon Temps Roule, Mandeville. “Benefits of Home is the Cancer Center’s largest fundraiser,” said Denise Gelpi Ragan, event chairwoman. “By purchasing a ticket to attend or taking home an auction item, you are making an investment in saving someone’s life.” The evening will feature offerings from local chefs, unlimited libations, live music by John Gray Jazz Band and silent and live auctions. Mark Romig, the voice of the New Orleans Saints and president and CEO of the New Orleans Tourism Marketing Corp., will emcee the evening’s live auction. Items for bid include, among others:

• a private fine dining experience for eight
• a one-week beach vacation
• a ride for two in a 2015 New Orleans Mardi Gras parade
• a sports package including tickets to Saints, LSU and Pelican games

Tickets for this year’s event, presented by HUB international and co-chaired by Alan Zaunbrecher, are $125 and include tastings and cocktails. For more information about tickets for the gala or raffle or live auction items, please visit or contact Leslie Landry, development director for the cancer center, at (985) 276-6845 or . “Proceeds from sponsorships, admission tickets, auction sales and onsite fundraising activities, including a wine pull and raffle, will help provide vital treatment services for those who otherwise could not afford them,” Landry said. “Examples of this include free community education and cancer screenings and transportation services for patients who need help getting to their treatments.” Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center at St. Tammany Parish Hospital provides comprehensive cancer care that strives to positively impact the lives of cancer patients and their families on the Northshore. Services include chemotherapy, radiation therapy and surgery, as well as patient navigation, clinical trials and free community screenings. Not only do patients have access to these vital cancer services and high quality cancer care, but these services are readily available close to home.