Stewart Memorial Auxiliary Makes Second Donation, Fully Funding New Surgical Table at Stewart Memorial Community Hospital

Stewart Memorial Community Hospital is proud to announce a second generous donation of $31,010.04 from the Stewart Memorial Auxiliary, completing the total funding needed for the purchase of a new surgical table for the hospital’s surgical department.

This latest contribution finalizes the Auxiliary’s commitment to covering the full cost of the surgical table, ensuring Stewart Memorial’s surgical team has access to advanced equipment that enhances patient safety, surgical precision, and overall care.

“This gift demonstrates the incredible work of our Auxiliary and their passion for supporting the health of our community,” said Linn Block, CEO of Stewart Memorial Community Hospital. “Their generosity allows us to invest in equipment that directly benefits our patients and caregivers, and we are deeply grateful for their continued partnership.”

The Stewart Memorial Auxiliary, made up of dedicated volunteers and supporters, raised the funds through community events, donations, and various fundraising efforts. Their support not only helped initiate the project but now brings it to full completion.

“This donation reflects the heart of our community,” said Auxiliary President Joyce Schleisman. “We are honored to fulfill this need and proud to help strengthen the surgical care available right here at home.”

The Auxiliary’s impact on the hospital is long-standing and deeply rooted. Over the past 60 years, the Stewart Memorial Community Hospital Auxiliary has donated more than $1 million to support the hospital through medical equipment purchases and building projects—all in support of Stewart Memorial’s mission to provide compassionate, quality healthcare close to home.

Interested in joining the Auxiliary? The goal of the Auxiliary is to promote and advance the mission of Stewart Memorial Community Hospital. To learn more about becoming a member, contact Mollie Scott, Auxiliary and Volunteer Coordinator, at mollie.scott@www.stewartmemorial.org or call (712) 464-4183.

Jody Windschitl’s Heartfelt Plant Donations to Stewart Memorial Community Hospital Continue to Flourish This National Volunteer Month

In celebration of National Volunteer Month, Stewart Memorial Community Hospital honors the generosity of Jody Windschitl, whose plant donations have not only beautified the hospital’s spaces but also served as a deeply personal tribute to her late son and father.

Jody’s connection to the plants she donates is rooted in personal loss. After the sudden passing of her son, followed by the loss of her father just 18 days later, Jody was overwhelmed with grief. The plants she received in their memory became a source of comfort and a way to honor their lives. “My son loved to grow things, and I still have all of the plants that he had when he passed away,” Jody shares. “I just couldn’t throw them away.”

Rather than discard the plants, Jody decided to build a greenhouse where she could continue to care for them. The greenhouse became a place of solace, where the plants flourished and grew in memory of her son and father. “They began to take over the end of my greenhouse; I couldn’t walk around them anymore,” she reflects.

In 2024, Jody began donating some of the thriving plants to Stewart Memorial Community Hospital, including a ficus, corn plant, and others that had outgrown her greenhouse. She brought the plants to the hospital to share the joy they had brought her. “They did well there, but they have done amazingly well here.” These plants can be found in patient waiting areas throughout the hospital, and Jody also donates smaller plants to the Heartstrings Gift Shop, with all proceeds supporting the hospital. “I just wanted to donate them. I don’t need to earn money off it,” Jody says.

Even now, Jody continues to tend to the plants at the hospital, ensuring they remain healthy and vibrant when she volunteers at the Heart Strings Gift Shoppee. “I love working here. I do this one day a week. It’s just a way for me to get away from everything else,” she explains. “I still come by to check on them.”

Jody’s plant donations have become more than just a charitable act; they are a way to keep the memory of her son and father alive while sharing something beautiful with others. “The plants just bring a lot of joy to me, and it’s wonderful to know that others are enjoying them too,” Jody says.

This National Volunteer Month, we celebrate Jody Windschitl’s generosity and selfless contributions to Stewart Memorial Community Hospital. Her ongoing efforts to share her plants and the love she has for them continue to have a lasting impact on the hospital, offering both beauty and healing to the facility.

Interested in volunteering at Stewart Memorial or joining the Auxiliary?
Contact Mollie Scott at mollie.scott@www.stewartmemorial.org or (712) 464-4183 to learn more about volunteer opportunities and how you can get involved!

History of the Stewart Memorial Auxiliary

On May 12, 1959, a group of dedicated volunteers organized to form Stewart Memorial Community Hospital Auxiliary. Mrs. S.M. O’Connor was the first president of the group of 49 members. Dues were set at $1 and remained that amount well into the 1990s.

The organization of the Auxiliary came almost three years before the opening of Stewart Memorial Community Hospital and was a part of the community fund raising effort that made the hospital possible. The first Auxiliary bazaar in 1959 raised $350.

By the end of the first year, membership had grown to about 150 and by the time the hospital opened in the spring of 1962, it had climbed to 271.

But this was only the beginning. Membership reached a high point in the 1980s of more than 2,000 members from Lake City and surrounding communities. The 2008-2009 membership of 742 made us the second largest Auxiliary in the state of Iowa.

The Auxiliary has received numerous statewide honors. Six times it received the “Master Auxiliary” award. It has regularly been among the top two or three leaders statewide in membership. In 1984 it received a “Community Service” award from then Congressman Tom Harkin. Members have served on the state board six times.

Funds are raised in several ways – the annual membership drive, gift shop sales, and several annual fund raising events. Events over the past fifty years have included “Bazaar,” “Christmas Tree Lane” and “Christmas Affair,” “Mardi Gras,” “Fall Frolic,” “Family Bingo,” “Puttin’ On The Ritz,” “Table A Fare,” “Silent Auction,” “Desserts with Style,” “Trivia Night” as well as our on-going “Book Fairs and Bake Sales” and “Uniform Sales.”

While that first bazaar in 1959 raised $350, several of the more current fund raising events net several thousand dollars each year. All of these efforts have enabled the Auxiliary to contribute more than $1 million to SMCH since its beginning. These funds have been used to purchase specific pieces of equipment to enable physicians and nurses to provide better health care for patients.

Just as important as the funds raised are the volunteer services provided. The gift shop, which was the first in the state of Iowa to be planned as an integral part of the hospital building, is operated entirely by volunteers and is open every week day.

In the past, Auxiliary members have delivered mail to patients. In 1973 a Meals-on-Wheels program was started and Auxiliary volunteers continue to operate that program. Currently this program delivers as many as 48 meals at noon to the communities of Lake City and Lohrville. The meals are prepared in the hospital dietary department and delivered by the Auxiliary volunteers.

Many members also devoted their sewing and knitting talents to hospital projects. They make a variety of products, which made life just a little easier and more pleasant for Stewart Memorial Community Hospital patients. In the past, “friendly mice and puppets” were provided for young patients as well as caps for newborns.

The Red Cross Bloodmobile has been served by Auxiliary members since 1960, even before the hospital opened. More recently Life Serve Blood Bank has been served by Auxiliary members.

Auxiliary members have been a part of every major expansion of the hospital, contributing time and money to fund drives and volunteering that “little extra” caring service that makes Stewart Memorial Community Hospital outstanding. In January 1991 the Auxiliary provided a spark that ignited a very successful fund drive for “Project 2000”. Members voted to donate $100,000 to the project over a five-year period. With this major contribution, other groups and individuals answered the challenge and more than $1 million was pledged toward the hospital expansion.

The strong tradition that was started with 49 members fifty years ago continues today. The Auxiliary is alive and well at Stewart Memorial Community Hospital!

Interested in joining the Auxiliary? Contact Mollie Scott, Volunteer Coordinator: 

mollie.scott@www.stewartmemorial.org or (712) 464-4183