Eaton Senior Communities Foundation’s Annual Fundraising Gala began in 2009 to raise funds to support the residents of Eaton Senior Communities. Last year was the event’s 10th anniversary. Over 10 years, the event has raised over $438,000 and is a critical part of the fundraising strategy for Eaton. This year, for the first time ever, the event is going virtual! 

The online silent auction will open at 9 a.m. on Friday, September 4th and remain open until the live virtual event.  The live virtual event will begin at 5 p.m. on Saturday, September 12th.  Join us as we announce silent auction winners, share some residents’ stories and host a live auction. Visit https://events.handbid.com/auctions/eatons-annual-fundraising-gala to register today.

All proceeds from this event will benefit the dining program at Eaton Senior Communities. Eaton did a dining survey with residents in June 2019. 140 residents responded (87% of the resident population), of those, almost 75% indicated that they rely on the meal program. Many of those residents have challenges shopping and cooking. 

Due to the impact of COVID-19 our residents have relied more heavily on the meal program than they would in normal times. The Culinary Department has been operating with reduced staff and reduced hours since March 16, 2020 but are serving more meals. Each hour that dining is operating, we are serving more than double the number of meals that we were serving before COVID-19.

In normal circumstances, operating the meal program is a financial challenge. We struggle each year to balance our dining operations by keeping the cost increase minimal for our low-income residents while also providing our staff with well-deserved wage increase and benefits.

Please join us in support of this vital program to empower lower-income older adults to age well.