CANTON, Ohio (May 27, 2022) – More than 375 attendees celebrated the “Charms of Charleston” at the 2022 Angel Auction hosted by The Women’s Board of Aultman Hospital at the Canton Memorial Civic Center on May 14, raising more than $545,000. The funds will go toward benefiting patient care initiatives and allowed the Women’s Board to complete its $1.2 million pledge to fund the mobility project at Aultman Hospital, which provides the healthcare team with state-of-the-art equipment to safely and easily help patients get out of bed and get moving.

This was the first in-person Angel Auction since 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and was chaired by Aimee Belden and Cathie Belden. One of the highlights of the event was a guest appearance by 2022 Pro Football Hall of Fame (HOF) inductee LeRoy Butler. As part of its donation to the 2022 Angel Auction, the HOF brought in Butler to help auction off a golf package at the Firestone Country Club during the Pro Football Hall of Fame Kickoff Golf Classic on Sept. 12. The full package included a VIP gift bag, dinner at the Pro Football Hall of Fame and a Monday Night Football watch party at the Nash Family Event and Conference Center.

During the live auction, Butler threw in autographed jerseys, an invite to his private party during enshrinement week and the opportunity to join him on the field when he is inducted during the enshrinement event. The package sold for $20,000.

Other popular live auction items included a trip to Whistling Straits aboard a private jet donated by Trident Restoration and the Eckinger Family, which was purchased for $21,000; an OSU game suite for 10 donated by Squire, Patton, Boggs LLP, which was purchased for $15,000; a trip to Charleston donated by Friends of the Women’s Board, Breeze Airways and Bulldog Tours Inc., which was purchased for $11,500; and the Women’s Board quilt, which was purchased for $4,500.

Following the live auction, guests were asked to “raise their paddles” and make a donation to Women’s Board initiatives. In less than five minutes, “Fund the Cause” raised $100,000.

The doors opened at 5:30 p.m., followed by hors d’oeuvres and a complimentary glass of champagne from the Bubbly Bar presented by Julz by Alan Rodriquez and oysters courtesy of Bender’s Tavern. Following the cocktail hour, attendees were escorted to the main arena while enjoying music courtesy of students from En-rich-ment Performing Arts Center. The program began at 7:15 p.m., followed by dinner and live auction. The evening ended with live entertainment by LDNL, a successful and high-profile live pop, dance and top 40 hip-hop band, along with late-night eats.

Complementing the event-based portion of the auction, the silent auction was entirely virtually this year. Guests had an opportunity to bid on over 200 items throughout the week leading up the event. The most popular items included an Aero Garden Indoor Hydroponic Garden donated by Karen Shackelford, target practice gift certificates donated by Great American Shooting Sports, Nintendo Switch Lite donated by Ruth Nicholson and a bourbon basket donated by Aimee and Brad Belden.

About the Women's Board of Aultman Hospital
The Women’s Board was founded in 1969 to render services to Aultman Hospital in the areas of community relations and fundraising. Since its inception, the Women’s Board has raised more than $28 million to support major projects at Aultman Hospital such as the emergency/trauma center, NICU, dialysis center, pediatric services, Aultman College of Nursing and Health Sciences, the Women’s Board Compassionate Care Center, The Shoppes at Aultman, the Aultman Cancer Center, Xenex germ-zapping robots, the orthopedic unit modernization and most recently, “50 for 50,” a project comprising 50 smaller hospital projects.