Reid Auxiliary cookbook project stirs up funds to support patient care

Committee members Kay Karn, Elsie Bragg
and Patsy Goble review finished cookbook.

A little bit of this and a little bit of that, and a lot of volunteer hours created a wonderful cookbook by Reid Hospital volunteers.

The project to make and sell cookbooks as a fundraiser began in June when a committee was formed by the Reid Auxiliary Board. Committee members Elsie Bragg, Romaine DeLucio, Patsy Goble, Kay Karn, Joan Martin and Leanna Reid asked volunteers to share their favorite recipes for inclusion in the cookbook.

This is the first cookbook put together by the Reid Auxiliary volunteers and the first fundraiser of this kind taken on by the group. None of the committee members had ever worked on a cookbook project before. “They just put their heads together and came up with a plan to collect, print and assemble the books,” said Becky Jewison, director of Volunteer Services. After some creative collaboration, they decided to call the book, “A Little Bit of This-N-A Little Bit of That.”

Most of the recipes were all different, however there were a few duplicate recipes which include the names of both who submitted it. There are two mother-daughter pairings represented in the book—Jane Retz and her daughter, Penny Scales, and Mildred Ryan and her daughter, Kay Karn.

Goble typed the 250 recipes at home and sent the files to the Volunteer Services office. The cover was produced by Reid’s Marketing department and printed by a local printer. DeLucio, Martin and Reid proofread all of the entries. Goble, Bragg and Karn printed, cut, hole-punched and bound 564 copies. They worked on assembling the books in batches of 25 with each batch taking about three hours.

The group hopes to make about $5,000 which will be donated to support hospital services. “The Reid Auxiliary has donated over $2 million dollars to the hospital since its inception in 1948,” said Jewison.

Other fundraising events carried out by the Auxiliary include a bake sale with items donated by volunteers and sales events from outside vendors who donate part of the sales to the Auxiliary. These have included books, jewelry, candy and Dillard’s Department Store.

The committee is pleased with the results of their hard work. Not only is the cookbook itself a great resource for tried and proven recipes, but the process was very rewarding as well. While all of the committee members are active volunteers, they had never worked together on an assignment. They enjoyed getting to know each other and appreciated the opportunity to create something with input from many of Reid’s 300 adult volunteers.

Early sales of the book have received positive comments. “A Little bit of This-N- A Little Bit of That” is available for $10 in the Ginkgo Boutique, Reid’s gift shop on the main campus of the hospital.