More than 500 guests and volunteers gathered at the Sun Valley Inn on Saturday, Feb. 28, for the seventh annual Share Your Heart Ball. Generous donors opened their hearts, and their wallets, to raise money for Idaho kids who are living with cancer.
The benefit is held each year to fund Camp Rainbow Gold, a free camp in the Wood River Valley for children diagnosed with cancer. The camp celebrated its 25th birthday at the ball on Saturday.
Donated auction items included several Hollywood experiences such as a walk-on part on the Fox show "24" and VIP tickets to the "Tonight Show with Jay Leno." Other items included an all-inclusive trip for four to Belize, an exclusive fly-fishing and skeet-shooting trip picnic, a six-day raft trip and a Sun Valley Resort winter deluxe package.
"I am so proud of this community," said Kris Cronin, founder and co-chairwoman of the Share Your Heart Ball. "They took this camp and raised it to a whole new level."
Cronin and her husband, cancer survivor Rob Cronin, own Zou 75 restaurant in Hailey. The couple provided a martini party for 60 at Zou 75, including appetizers, sushi and wine, as an auction item for the ball.
Fourteen-year-old Eli McNees served as assistant emcee to Rob Cronin during the evening's festivities, personally thanking each of the donors who donated generously for the auction items.
McNees attends Wood River High School and recently beat Hodgkin's lymphoma, a form of cancer. He was recently told by doctors that he is cancer-free.
Each summer, about 200 kids from Idaho who have been diagnosed with cancer attend a series of camps and family get-togethers at Camp Rainbow Gold in the Boulder Mountains north of Ketchum. The camp also sponsors a college fund for former Rainbow campers, as well as ski days and hockey nights throughout the year.
"Thanks to the level of donations, we will add an extra week of 'oncology camp' to the summer schedule," said Kris Cronin. "The evening far exceeded our expectations."
Tony Evans: tevans@mtexpress.com
Kris Cronin, co-founder of the Share Your Heart Ball, helps auction off prizes at the ball Saturday in Sun Valley. Her husband, Rob Cronin, right, and cancer survivor Eli McNees, left, assisted her in the festivities. Photo by Willy Cook
