Friends of the Free Clinic

One of the many blessings in my life over the past 10 years has been Kristin Lucas. When the clinic opened, I didn’t know her. A fellow church member introduced us, and told me, “You need to know Kristin.” She was SO right about that! Kristin had served as the founder and executive director of the local domestic violence shelter for 19 years prior to her retirement. She had traveled some, and was ready for a new challenge. I don’t think she had any idea how big of a challenge I would be, but we were brought together for a reason.

Kristin knew all the things that I didn’t even know that I didn’t know. I am a nurse. Being an executive director was not in any of the curriculum I took! I had no idea where to begin with so much of the legal/accounting/etc. side of things. But Kristin was there to guide and teach me. She served as chair of the board until she was term-limited out.

Luckily, she had seen a need, and moved to fill that need: the clinic needed fundraisers. She started a group named Friends of the Free Clinic. The group is mostly women who believe in the work of the clinic and have connections in the community. Their mission is to raise money for the clinic. They are amazing!!

Eight years ago, this group decided to host a yearly event to raise money for the clinic – we are now preparing for the 8^th Annual Taste of Autumn. The event is a food and wine tasting, held at the local college. Money is raised by getting sponsorships from local businesses and having the local restaurants provide enough food for a “taste” to the 250 guests that purchase tickets to the event. It is so much fun and an event our community looks forward to every year. The event brings in about one-third of our annual income.

The Taste of Autumn is this Saturday evening – nearly all the tickets are sold and we are really looking forward to another amazing evening. The Friends of the Free Clinic have been hard at work, and as always, I am awed at their dedication and enthusiasm for this event.

The Friends of the Free Clinic also send out fundraising letters each year, asking their family, friends and neighbors to help support the clinic. The response to this is amazing.

The Friends of the Free Clinic are my heroes. The work is not always fun, it certainly isn’t always easy, and yet they do it year after year because they believe in the work we do here. To say “thank you” seems so inadequate, but from the bottom of my heart, I thank them for the work they do!