Playing On Your Heart Strings

As much as most of us would like to do what we love for a living, it often doesn’t work out that way. A waitress might be a gifted author or a lawyer an excellent musician, but life, more often than not, gets in the way. That doesn’t mean that these talents are eventually shunted away to wither and die in the shade, however, they simply turn into hobbies.  And Roper St. Francis Hospital (RSFH) has a surprising number of hobbyists.
It’s a fact that Roper St. Francis’ volunteer coordinator Joan Perry discovered recently and decided to turn into an excellent idea for this year’s Heart Walk fundraiser.
“We discussed the idea and sent out a little blurb in the hospital’s internal newsletter, asking if anyone on staff was also a musician. We got a good number of responses, but when we told them we wanted them to play in front of an audience a lot of them shied away,” says Colleen Cooney, Media Relations Manager for RSFH.
Enough people responded positively to the idea, though, that the idea became a reality. From Monday, July 15, through Saturday, July 20, several RSFH employees with a gift for music will take turns entertaining guests at the Gathering Café in West Ashley’s Orange Grove Plaza and 5% of all sales, lunch and dinner, that week will go the 2013 RSFH Heart Walk, a three mile walk through downtown Charleston to support the fight against heart disease and stroke.
“It’s a great group we have performing. Mike Ellegood, a physical therapist who often practices his violin in the Outpatient Therapy Rehab Gym, will be performing on Monday and Aaron O’Brien, who works with the Ryan White Program, will be performing acoustic guitar on Wednesday,” says Cooney.
Other artists include Registered Nurses, members of the IS Department and even the vice president of Mission. Performances will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. most evenings during dinner hours.
“We’ve had different fundraisers every year for the Heart Walk. A couple years ago we had a race between Joan Perry and Allen Carroll, CEO of St. Francis Hospital, to see who could get to Roper St. Francis first. Carroll, who’s an avid biker, biked from Mount Pleasant and Joan walked from downtown. Employees ‘bet’ on who would reach the hospital first and all the proceeds went to the Heart Walk,” says Cooney.
The Gathering Café is an ideal venue for the event due to the owner’s dedication to healthy, natural foods. Opening a little less than a year ago in West Ashley, the cafe has received a warm welcome not only for their creative menu but also for their efforts in using seasonal, local produce as much as possible. Chef Nathan Conkle, a veteran of downtown’s Magnolia restaurant and The Sanctuary on Kiawah Island, draws from his background in fine dining and a desire to serve simple, health conscious, yet comfort food-inspired dishes to create his menu.
“It’s sure to be fun, no matter what. Everyone’s excited to finally get to see and hear the talents of their fellow employees,” says Cooney.
The Gathering Café is open Tuesday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., and 4:30 p.m. to 9 p.m., as well as Saturday from 4:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. The Gathering Café is located at 1124 Sam Rittenberg Boulevard in the Orange Grove Plaza in West Ashley. For more information, visit www.gatheringwestashley.com. For more information about the Roper St. Francis Heart Walk, visit https://www.facebook.com/roperstfrancis or www.heart.org/heartorg