The Debbie-Rand Memorial Service League Board of Trustees includes
front row, from left: Debbie Leising, Diana Rivellino, Marci Nowak. Back
row: Mildred Schwartz, Barbara Gideon, Eileen Carlins, Diana Bubb, Marty
Lambert, Lois McGinn, Deyse Norwitz and Dave Reynolds. Photo provided
For more on Gloria Lawson Drummond who founded the Boca Raton Regional Hospital click here.
By Linda Haase
In 1962, 18 resolute women banded together, fiercely determined to raise money to build a hospital in Boca Raton. The action was spurred by the tragic deaths of Debra and Randall Drummond, two children who were poisoned and died as they reached the nearest hospital about 15 miles away in Boynton Beach. The women — along with the children’s mother, Gloria Drummond, who founded the group — raised the seed money for the “Miracle on Meadows Road,” now known as Boca Raton Regional Hospital.
Today, the Debbie-Rand Memorial Service League has more than 1,000 members and has raised more than $28.8 million for the hospital, which opened in 1967. Using everything from bake sales to establishing a thrift shop (which has more than 90 volunteers and nets about $350,00 a year), they have funded many projects, including a pavilion at the hospital.
But the league, named in memory of the Drummond children, has also given its heart and soul: 2 million volunteer hours have been donated over the years. The men, women and teen volunteers help out in 60 areas of the not-for-profit hospital campus, including serving as hospital ambassadors to patients, employees and visitors; assisting patients and staff on a nursing unit; raising money for equipment and services; serving on event planning committees; organizing children’s tours; helping with the pet therapy program and delivering flowers.
Members of the league will be honored during 50th annual Boca Raton Regional Hospital Ball, “A Golden Gala — Celebrating 50 Years,” on Jan. 21 at the Boca Raton Resort & Club.
“It’s been quite the journey,” says League President Debbie Leising, who began volunteering for the league in 1977. “What we do here is so important, so incredible. The volunteers are so dedicated and passionate. There are no words to express what the volunteers do on any given day.”
And Leising adds, others have said that the hospital couldn’t operate without the league’s help.
As the steadfast group mourns the Dec. 10 death of founder Gloria Drummond, it takes solace in the work it will continue to accomplish on her behalf.
The tireless group, which Leising calls the “backbone” of the hospital, hopes to provide a chapel on campus. “It will be a place for respite and a place for people to pray for their loved ones,” she explains. The group also hopes to have a presence in the gift shop in the Christine E. Lynn Women’s Health and Wellness Institute when it opens.
However, this year’s annual ball will be bittersweet for league members, who planned to honor Drummond there.
But it will be “a last hurrah to show her and the community how proud we are,” says Leising.
“Gloria Drummond’s passion to see something good come out of devastating personal tragedy is one of the most compelling stories our community has ever witnessed. Not only was she the driving force behind the creation of our hospital, she also established and nurtured the development of one of the largest and most effective volunteer service and fundraising organizations in health care today.”
And one that will be around for years to come, predicts Leising.
50th annual Boca Raton Regional Hospital Ball
“A Golden Gala — Celebrating 50 Years”
Chairmen: Honorary Chairs Orrine and Warren S. Orlando and Patricia Thomas
Honorees: The late Gloria Drummond, a founder of Boca Raton Regional Hospital; Dick Schmidt, chairman of the Board of Trustees and life-long supporter of the hospital; members of the Debbie-Rand Memorial Service League; and physician honorees who were selected by their peers as exemplifying the best in quality, compassionate care: Stephen Babic, M.D.; Nicolas Breuer, M.D.; Stephen Grabelsky, M.D.; Michael Lewis, M.D.; Stewart Newman, M.D.; Mark Rubenstein, M.D.; Alan Saitowitz, M.D.; Mark Saltzman, M.D.; David Scott, M.D.; and Jose Yeguez, M.D.
When: 7 p.m.-midnight, Jan. 21
Where: Boca Raton Resort & Club
Tickets: $400
For information: Call Sandra Longo, 955-3249 or slongo@brrh.com
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