Close to 200 people were served meals, and with a silent auction, live auction, and raffle tickets, the benefit brought in $60,000. One hundred fifty items were donated to the benefit. One of the organizers, Mikki Pansch, said, "I think John and Jessica Sheehy Elk print, Billy's and Kandi's Thai dinner for 12, and the Mint prime rib dinner for 12 brought in the most dollars. Ryan Pansch's service inspection also brought in a good amount. The beef box donated by the Darlington Ranch went for $500. The pork donated by Kelly and Kristi Rutledge went for $600.
The Facebook Hearts for Hep Benefit wrote, "Our hearts are so heavy with love and appreciation for everyone! It was a great turnout, and we still are in awe of all the love and support from so many. This post would be a novel if we thanked everyone individually. Please know that we are extremely grateful to everyone who donated or helped you in any way! It could not have been done without it! Thank you!"
Mikki also said, "We had the varsity and JV volleyball team volunteer to help. They were a big help, and they did such a good job. So it was, so what did they do? They served food. They helped pull raffle tickets and demonstrated the items to the people. They helped people write names on the raffle tickets. They just did a little bit of everything. They were a huge, huge help."
Mikki Pansch (Big Sandy), Laci Keller Christiansen (Havre and surrounding areas), and Jennifer Sickafoose (Great Falls, Fort Benton, and Geraldine) organized the event.
Mikki told me, "I just thank the community for all their support. We couldn't have done it without them. Donations were given, people came in, ate, bidding on things, and prayed for them and their families."
Katie wrote, "Casten and I were absolutely shaken last night, in the best way imaginable. I told Casten before we even walked in that I wasn't going to cry; I was going to be a tough girl. It wasn't even 30 seconds in, and I was a crying mess at the door. Thanks, Dem.
I can't explain what a wonderful evening we had, with so much love and support shown to our family. From the laying of hands for Casten to the line of kids who wanted to bear hug Coach Katie, we are truly grateful for each and every one of you. There is so much power in numbers, and we have the best army alongside us.
We can't thank these beautiful, amazing ladies and their families enough for all of their time, effort, and love that went into making this beautiful night happen for our family. We are very blessed to have such wonderful people in our lives.
We can't thank everyone enough for their donations, the delicious dinner from Peps, and the lovely ladies from the Pioneer Volleyball team and coaches who helped with so much. We are so thankful!
We are so amazed by the communities that have rallied behind us and blessed our family with so much love and support! Now it's Casten's turn to Fight! We Love you all!"
