April – Crystal Ball & Crash the Ball

The Northland Inn

The Foundation's annual Crystal Ball is a celebration of the physicians, staff, volunteers of Mercy, Unity, and the communities they serve. The event raises approximately $250,000 each year to support the programs and facilities of Mercy and Unity hospitals. Learn more.

July - Annual Golf Classic

The annual event sold out in 2011 and raised over $60,000. View a slideshow from the 11th annual tournament.

September – Par and Pamper Golf

Par and Pamper Golf Day for women raised over $27,000 for the Patient Emergency Fund.

October – Annual Pheasant Hunt

Third annual event at Wild Wings of Oneka in Hugo.

Affiliated events

May - Twinkling Angels Golf Tournament

The 6th annual event in 2011 raised over $34,000.

August - 3M Championship

Every year this event and senior golf competition raise approximately $1.3 million for Allina hospitals.

August – St. Croix Dinner and Wine Cruise

September - Lynnda Laubach Breast Cancer Awareness Ride

Annual fall motorcycle ride raises funds to support individuals batting breast cancer. Last year $32,000 was distributed directly to Mercy and Unity patients with breast cancer.

2012 Crystal Ball

Northland Inn, April 21, 2012

Mercy & Unity Hospitals Foundation's Crystal Ball is our premier fundraising event, raising more than $288,000 this past April to fund programs and services at Mercy and Unity to benefit patients, families and our community. This includes over $43,000 for Fund-a-Need, which supported the cancer patient emergency fund.

Supporting innovative, quality health care

In 2011-2012, the Foundation is supporting two innovative, first-of-their-kind programs in the north metro that will help our caregivers provide safe, efficient and state-of-the-art patient care.

Mercy Hospital: Expanded cardiology and cardiovascular surgery capabilities

Every day patients from throughout the north metro arrive at Mercy Hospital in need of life-saving care for cardiac and cardiovascular conditions of all kinds. In conjunction with Metropolitan Heart and Vascular Institute, Mercy offers one of the top 50 heart-bypass surgery programs in the U.S. and is a seven-time Top 100 Cardiovascular Hospital for excellent heart attack survival and complication rates. Our highly skilled specialists are nationally known for cutting-edge procedural and surgical therapies.

To maintain the high levels of care our patients deserve, we must expand our cardiac and cardiovascular capabilities. We need new technology to give physicians and staff the tools to deliver the best available and most appropriate treatment.

Proceeds from the Crystal Ball support cardiology and cardiovascular surgery programs offered at Mercy Hospital through the Metropolitan Heart and Vascular Institute. Any kind of cardiac or cardiovascular surgery is a life-changing event that can dramatically improve the lives and health of those who entrust us with their care.

Unity Hospital: Acute inpatient rehabilitation unit

Many patients, like those who have experienced a stroke, may benefit from an intense, comprehensive, inpatient rehabilitation program. Working with medically stable patients, these programs help patients regain their independence and capability in every day activities, with the goal of returning home after their stay.

In the past, these patients were discharged to nursing homes which neither provide the same level of rehabilitation care nor achieve the same outcomes. Absences of such services in our area have resulted in patients not achieving optimal independence and community reintegration.

Unity Hospital, working with Allina's Sister Kenny Rehabilitation Institute, a leading provider of rehabilitation care in the upper midwest, will use Crystal Ball funds to build the first acute inpatient rehabilitation unit in the north metro so that patients can have a better quality of life.

The 24/7 inpatient rehabilitation program will care for patients who have had a stroke, disease of the brain or spinal cord injury, neurological disease, dysfunction have had prolonged hospitalization or illness, or need general rehabilitation medicine following surgery or a long illness care.

Enjoy a recap of the 2011 Crystal Ball

In 2011, Mercy & Unity Hospitals Foundation's Crystal Ball raised funds for an Acute Inpatient Rehabilitation Unit at Unity and expanded cardiology and cardiovascular capabilities at Mercy. The live auction supported the Patient Care Emergency Fund, which provides financial assistance for patients struggling to make ends meet during health care treatment.

Join us for more Foundation events

Annual Golf Classic

July 12, 2012, North Oaks Golf Club
Check back for more information on our July 2012 event.

The Foundation’s 11th Annual Golf Classic sold out and raised a tournament record in 2011 – more than $60,000! Proceeds will support the Patient Emergency Fund. The fund assists Mercy and Unity hospital patients who are struggling financially because of chronic or severe medical conditions.. Patient can apply for help paying for prescriptions, transportation (bus, taxi and medical van), safety equipment (infant car seat), household items and emergency nutritional needs.

Special thanks go to the Golf Classic Committee members: co-chairs Don Haller (Connexus Energy) and John Stoltenberg, MD, Larry Crane (Northeast Bank), Adam Dooley (The Standard), Brian Kovar (AID Electric), Helen McClintock (Mercy Auxiliary), Brad Severson (Lake Air Companies) and Jim Steffen (Trott Brook Financial).

See great slides from the 2011 tournament!

Women's Golf Day: Par and Pamper

Sept. 10, 2012, Majestic Oaks Golf Club
Check back for more information on our July 2012 event.

The ladies golf event is all about fun! True beginners and expert golfers alike enjoy a variety of contests on various holes: wine tasting on the 9th hole, chair massages, glamour shots and many more. The 18-hole, four-woman scramble tournament is followed by a silent auction, lunch, prize drawings and brief program.

More than $27,000 was raised in our 2011 event for the Patient Emergency Fund, which benefits hospital patients who are struggling financially due to chronic or severe medical conditions. Your support provides assistance to patients for unexpected and urgent items they are otherwise unable to afford: prescriptions, transportation, safety equipment (child car seats), household items and emergency nutritional needs.

See the 2011 brochure and sponsorship information, or call Andrea Melberg Thompson at 763-236-3963 for more information.

Foundation Pheasant Hunt

Tuesday, Oct. 10 -11, Marsh Lake, Chaska, Minn.
Check back for more information on our 2012 event.

The Mercy & Unity Foundation's 3rd Annual Pheasant Hunt was held Oct. 11 at Wild Wings of Oneka in Hugo. With the support of generous sponsors and 82 participants, the event raised a record $25,000 to support the Mercy and Unity Patient Emergency Fund. The fund assists hospital patients who are struggling financially because of chronic, and in some instances severe but acute, medical conditions.

The sporting day shoot includes a morning pheasant hunt, clay shoot and lunch. The afternoon begins with a pheasant hunt, followed by a wild game dinner. For more information, call Kenna Dooley at 763-236-3964.

Our community affiliations offer valuable support

Twinkling Angels Golf Tournament

May 24, 2012, Majestic Oaks,Ham Lake, Minn.
Check back for more information on the 2012 event.

The Twinkling Angels Fund honors the short lives of Madison and Parker Thurner. Every year the Thurner family hosts a golf tournament to raise money for the fund, and remember their children, who died in 2002.

Funds are distributed through the Mercy & Unity Hospitals Foundation and help support the people of Anoka County and surrounding communities. The hope is to provide comfort to children who are hospitalized and to families dealing with unfortunate circumstances, especially the loss of a child.

The 6th annual golf tournament raised over $34,000 in 2011. In past years, proceeds have helped families after the loss of a child, send kids to burn camp and provided funds for Sister Kenny Kids.

To learn more about the Twinkling Angels Fund, please call the Foundation at 763-236-3966.

3M Championship

July 30 - August 5, 2012, TPC Twin Cities Golf, Blaine, Minn.
Check back for more information on the 2012 event.

Every year the senior golf competition and week-long activities raise approximately $1.3 million for Abbott Northwestern, United, Mercy and Unity hospitals. At Mercy and Unity, a portion of the proceeds benefit programs and services at both hospitals. This includes the expansion and renovation of emergency departments and comprehensive cancer care programs at both hospitals.

St. Croix Dinner and Wine Cruise

August 2011, Afton Princess on the St. Croix River
Check back for more information on our July 2012 event.

In 2011, the Mercy & Unity Hospitals Foundation was the recipient of funds from the first-ever dinner and wine cruise on the St. Croix River. The event featured 3M golf champion David Frost. Guests sampled wines from David Frost’s vineyard and he spoke with guests about wines from his vineyard.

The event took place on the Afton Princess at the Afton Inn and featured live music for the guests. A special thanks to Amara Wines and the Afton Inn for helping host the event.

Lynnda Laubach Breast Cancer Awareness Ride

September 22, 2012, Zylstra Harley-Davidson, Elk River, Minn.
More about the 2012 ride.

The annual motorcycle ride raises funds for to support individuals batting breast cancer. Foundations at Mercy, Unity and Regions hospitals distribute funds to directly to breast cancer patients and survivors, although recipients do not need to receive treatment at these hospitals to be considered. Contributions from the ride do not go toward research, but are given directly to those who need financial help due to their illness. Last year at Mercy and Unity, $32,000 of support was distributed.

The ride leaves Zylstra Harley-Davidson in Elk River and concludes with a hog roast, music, raffles and live auction. The Grand Prize for the raffle each year is a Harley-Davidson motorcycle.

More information about the Mercy Cancer Center and the Virginia Piper Cancer Institute at Unity.