McKenzie Home hosts inaugural banquet

About four months ago, Debra Moerke was speaking to a room of roughly a dozen people at The Hitching Post, presenting her vision for The McKenzie Home - a transitional home for single mothers that will be housed at the Washington Square site. Last week, she presented the same vision to a room full of over 200 people at the Holiday Inn Ballroom in Rock Springs for the McKenzie Home's first annual fundraising banquet. 

"So many people - just look at this room - in less than a year and a half, have gotten involved and said 'we love this idea,'" Moerke said during the banquet. 

When she began planning the banquet, Moerke anticipated having around 10 tables. Before long, 24 tables had been reserved. While a few people who planned to come couldn't make it due to problems like bad weather and roads, the event still saw about 220 people in attendance.

Along with showing up, people demonstrated their support for the project by raising funds that will help the McKenzie Home become a reality. The event raised money through sponsored tables and ticket sales, chances to donate directly, raffles, a silent auction, and a special live auction. The main feature of the live auction was a chance to buy a brick from the original Washington Square building, which many remember as the old elementary school. The winners of the auction will have their names engraved on the brick, which will go back into the reconstructed building, honoring the donors who helped from the beginning.

Bidding on the bricks ended up being intense. Trona Valley Federal Credit Union secured a brick for $600. Ron Cheese won the first brick of the night with a bid of $650. Debra Moerke bid for one herself, getting it for $725 to support her own project. Jake Vaughn, the cousin of Moerke's son-in-law, got a brick for $850. But the last brick raised the most, and went to Green River Council Member Sherry Bushman, who bid $1,500. 

While Moerke said donations are still coming in and being added up, she anticipated the evening as a whole will ultimately raise around $30,000 for the project.

One of the other main parts of the evening was an address from guest speaker Irene Richardson, the CEO of Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County, who expressed her support for the project and explained her personal connection to the McKenzie Home's mission. 

"I want to thank Debra Moerke and the board for this vision of the McKenzie Home," Richardson said. "What a wonderful idea and what a great cause to support. When I heard about it I was intrigued, because as a single mom it really spoke to me, having a community to help single moms so their kids can benefit. What a great way to give back to the community, by honoring such a historic landmark like the Washington school site to be the McKenzie Home. That building is so near and dear to so many of us, and what a great way to celebrate that building site."

Richardson explained that not only does she have personal connections to the Washington Square site since she and her family attended elementary school there, but she has experience with the needs of single moms. Richardson's father died when she was young, suddenly causing her own mother to become a single mom raising several children. Later in life, Richardson became a single mom herself after getting a divorce. She not only learned from her mother's example, but had support from her mother and other family, friends, and the community. 

"I tell you all of this because I want you to see that being a single mom sometimes just happens, and it's okay," Richardson said. "Every mom wants the best for her kids, and becoming a single mom is sometimes unexpected and unplanned and often takes you by surprise. And it most definitely makes you feel financially, emotionally, physically and mentally drained. And sometimes all we need is a bridge, or a crutch, or a little help from our friends to get us back on our feet again so we can help ourselves and our kids succeed. And it's hard to do this alone. And that's why I believe and support the McKenzie Home, because that will be the bridge and the crutch and the help from friends that single moms need."