More than $1 million raised for the Winter Ball for the fourth consecutive year

Supporters of the 11th Annual Winter Ball held in December 2019 collectively raised more than $1.3 million to help support the clinical care, education and biomedical research missions of UMass Chan Medical School and UMass Memorial Medical Center. This is the fourth consecutive year that fundraising has exceeded $1 million.

The overall total for the 2019 event included nearly $650,000 in corporate sponsorships—the second highest amount in the event’s history—and pushed the 11-year fundraising total past $10.7 million. More than 300 supporters, including Worcester Mayor Joseph Petty, attended the gala held on Friday, Dec. 6, 2019, at Mechanics Hall.

“On behalf of our institutions we would like to thank our sponsors, the planning committee, volunteers, the gala staff, and patrons for their support in making this event such a success. We are humbled by the continued generosity of this community,” said Michael F. Collins, MD, chancellor of UMass Chan Medical School, and Eric Dickson, MD, president and CEO of UMass Memorial Health Care, in a joint statement. “The tremendous effort behind this marvelous event helps to fund vital programs and research at our health sciences center that will improve the health and well-being of the people in our community, state and country.”

Leading the fundraising efforts as co-chairs for the 2019 event were business and community leaders Susan and Anthony Consigli, and Susan and Cliff Rucker. Funds are raised for the Winter Ball through corporate sponsorships, auctions, and ticket sales.

Each year, a program, center or other important project or initiative is selected as the beneficiary of the Fund-a-Need segment of the live auction; this year, pediatric cancer care and research was in the spotlight. Generous donors pledged nearly $290,000 to support the teams of UMass Memorial caregivers who are treating infants, children, adolescents and young adults with a wide range of cancers, and UMMS researchers who are investigating promising cures and treatments to save lives and make the effects of cancer therapies less toxic to patients.