3rd Annual Beebe Goes Purple Guest Bartending Event Raises More Than $120,000
The proceeds from the 3rd Annual Beebe Goes Purple Guest Bartending event raised $122,526 for Beebe Healthcare’s Go Purple Fund.
Beebe Goes Purple was held in late September at The Starboard in Dewey Beach to raise funds for awareness, education, prevention, and recovery related to the opioid epidemic in Sussex County. The annual event was founded by Beebe Medical Foundation’s Young Professionals Group, led by Beebe Medical Foundation team members: Justen Albright, Sean Flanigan, and Amy Keller. The group, started in 2019, set out to make a difference in the lives of those affected by the opioid epidemic.
“Beebe Goes Purple started because our young professionals group wanted to make an impact on the opioid epidemic in Sussex County,” Keller said. “Opioid addiction has impacted the lives of many of our young professionals personally and Beebe Goes Purple is a way to contribute to the solution.”
Since its founding, the Beebe Goes Purple event has raised over $267,000 for Beebe Healthcare’s Go Purple Fund. The Go Purple Fund has been designated to support Beebe Healthcare’s Mobile Health Unit with a focus on Mental Health and Addiction Medicine. This mobile health initiative provides low-threshold, low barrier clinical care and harm reduction services aimed at increasing access to addiction services for people at high risk.
Beebe deploys a mobile unit and a hybrid team of mental & behavioral health providers, clinicians, and community health workers to areas with high rates of opioid use. By mobilizing critical addiction services, Beebe can bring care directly to high-risk individuals and address Behavioral Health and Mental Health needs in our local communities.
This year’s event held at The Starboard, featured community celebrities including: Alexa Baich, Kim Benton, Jack Berberian, Allen Carroll, Cheryl Crowe, Bill Chasanov, DO, Brian DiSabatino, Angie Ficco, Ashley Foster, Eddie Ghabour, Christian Hudson, Jami Jackson, Katie Johnson, DO, Keith “Toastie” Kirk, Mike Maksymow, Carter McClung, Vanessa Megee, Dustin Parker, Rachel Parker, Andrew Parsell, BA Racine-Kerezsi, Tara Rhodes, Brian Richards, Mike Simpler, Steve Touw, and Lee Ann Wilkinson.
Teams paired up for 15-minute shifts to serve drinks to friends, family, and Beebe supporters. Vanessa Megee and Christian Hudson took home the prize for raising the most funds night of with $2,311 ($19,790 overall) and Lee Ann Wilkinson and Eddie Ghabour took home the overall prize, raising $53,173 for Beebe Goes Purple.
“The support for this year’s Beebe Goes Purple was incredible. We have The Starboard, all of our sponsors, our amazing bartenders, and all of our guests to thank for this year’s record-breaking year,” Flanigan said. “We are anxious to see what next year brings.”
The 4th Annual Beebe Goes Purple Celebrity Guest Bartending event will take place Thursday, September 19, 2024, at The Starboard.
“Our use of a peer-to-peer fundraising platform really took things up a notch this year. Our bartenders were able to reach out to their friends, family and colleagues via social media and email to support their fundraising goals,” Albright said. “We saw great results and can’t thank everyone enough for embracing this new tool.”
To learn more about ways to support and give to Beebe Healthcare’s Go Purple Fund, or to get involved with Beebe Medical Foundation’s Young Professionals, please visit the Beebe Medical Foundation page, or call 302-644-2900.
Photo (L-R): Kay Young, Beebe Medical Foundation Executive Director of Development; Taylor Modica, The Starboard Private Event Coordinator; Steve Montgomery, Owner The Starboard, Amy Keller, Beebe Medical Foundation Event Coordinator; Justen Albright, Beebe Medical Foundation Financial Analyst; Tom Protack, Beebe Medical Foundation President.