Sentries for a Century

As the hospital’s Founding Mothers, members of Le Bonheur Club have been donating their time, talents and treasure to Le Bonheur Children’s since opening its doors in 1952. Club members have served in myriad volunteer and donor engagement roles across the decades, running the hospital’s gift shop and tea room, staffing the sewing room, reading to patients, operating a hospitality cart, sorting and delivering mail, stocking toys on Bunny Lane, accompanying therapy dogs on hospital visits, hosting parties and special events for patients, families and staff, and even operating the hospital elevators in Le Bonheur’s earliest years of operation.

Club members have also raised millions of dollars for Le Bonheur, beginning with the $2.2 million gift that made the hospital’s construction possible. From their weekly in-person volunteer shifts to their countless community engagement efforts, Le Bonheur Club has worked tirelessly for 100 years and counting to secure the promise of hope and healing for children in and beyond the Mid-South.

No-Sew Blankets

Weaving Traditions Together

In Le Bonheur’s early years, many Club member shifts were spent in the hospital’s sewing room, where volunteers dutifully made hundreds of gowns, garments and other linens to support operations at the children’s hospital. During their weekly three hour shift, Club members sewed patient gowns, surgical gowns for physicians and nurses, masks for clinical staff, bedsheets and even handmade toys for the Bunny Room, where patients were encouraged to pick out a new toy before having surgery at Le Bonheur.

Today, the Club’s handmade “no-sew” blankets reflect both the interests of modern-day patients and the fast-paced lives of contemporary Club members — many of whom work full time in addition to their volunteer endeavors at Le Bonheur and elsewhere. Club members come together in the hospital’s Community Room, at Le Bonheur Club Headquarters and other locations to host No-Sew Blanket Parties, resulting in dozens of handcrafted and lovingly made blankets designed to comfort patients and brighten their hospital rooms with color and cheer. 

“No-sew blankets are a nod to our roots,” said Le Bonheur Club President Debbie Compton. “Le Bonheur Club was founded in 1923 by 19 young women who formed a sewing circle to make clothes for children at the Leath Orphanage. A full century later, our members are carrying on that sewing circle tradition in our own way, continuing our founders’ practice of making blankets that can be placed on Bunny Lane alongside games and toys.”

Gold Tags

Funding Le Bonheur’s Future

In 1962, Le Bonheur Club began hosting its annual Gold Tag Drive — a project that has served as the organization’s signature fundraiser for more than 60 years, with Elvis Presley among the drive’s early supporters. Launched just 10 years after Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital opened its doors, the Gold Tag Drive is an annual letter writing campaign in which members send direct mail solicitations to their friends, family members and associates asking for donations to help support the hospital. Throughout the fundraiser’s first few decades, donors were given a “gold tag” bumper sticker to place on their vehicle as a show of support for Le Bonheur.

During the campaign’s early years, gold tags were sold for $10 each, and every Club member was asked to raise $200 for the hospital, which equates to almost $2,000 in today’s economy.

The Club also sold March tags, or small bumper stickers that corresponded with license tag renewals, for 50 cents each, working group shifts at the fairgrounds and the courthouse to raise money and awareness for the hospital.

“Back then, all license tags were sold during March, and we could make quite a bit of money — sometimes $20,000 across the month — working in three-hour shifts of four or five members,” recalled Billie Anne Williams, who joined Le Bonheur Club in 1964 and served as Club president in 1976.

“Selling tags for Le Bonheur was a wonderful experience because people would come and give you all the change in their pocket, and then they would tell stories about their children or grandchildren who had been cared for at Le Bonheur,” said Williams. “We heard many uplifting stories and we did the work because we loved helping Le Bonheur help children.”

Through the years, the price of gold tags rose from $10 to $25 to reflect the rising costs of care, and Club members often spent their volunteer days calling on local businesses and selling tags to individuals at offices throughout the community. Former Club president Pat Klinke, who led the organization in 1983, became widely known around town for her mouthwatering rum cakes, which she would bake for friends and colleagues who supported the Gold Tag Drive. Klinke even sold a gold tag to former Tennessee Gov. Lamar Alexander during his gubernatorial term in the early 1980s.

Today, the Gold Tag Drive has evolved to reflect a more modern landscape and typically includes several in-person events annually, including a Sip and Shop event at the Laurelwood Shopping Center in recent years and a local art show to generate awareness and donations. Though the campaign’s framework has changed throughout time, the heart of the Club’s annual fundraising event is still rooted in letters written from members to friends, humbly asking for support to safeguard the future of our region’s only comprehensive children’s hospital.

Therapy Dogs

Welcoming Four-Legged Friends

Studies show that the simple act of petting a dog can lower a person’s blood pressure, steady their heart rate and ease symptoms of anxiety — which is why Le Bonheur Children’s has been bringing therapy dogs to the hospital bedside for more than 20 years. Patients, parents and care providers alike delight at the sight of four-legged companions rounding on units throughout the hospital, which recently began welcoming therapy dogs into its Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and is investing in more opportunities for therapy dogs to connect with Le Bonheur staff.

Each therapy animal undergoes extensive training to prepare for their role visiting hospitalized children, and every dog and handler team is escorted by a Le Bonheur volunteer. In recent years, approximately a dozen Le Bonheur Club members have volunteered in the role of therapy dog and handler host, including the Club’s Immediate Past President, Lala Dando. Dando formerly served as volunteer escort for therapy dog Annie and her handler, Ellen Rodgers, and recalls paying weekly visits to the same patient for more than a year.

“In our initial weeks visiting this young boy, he was essentially nonresponsive,” remembers Dando. “Over time, though, the child regained some abilities and began to engage with members of his care team — and, in particular, he began to build rapport with Annie, the black Labrador who paid him a pet therapy visit every week. Everyone on the unit would get so excited when it was time for Annie to visit because this boy responded so well to her, and by the end of his yearlong admission, the patient took his first steps around the unit with Annie guiding and supporting him. All of the staff were crying, cheering and celebrating this patient’s progress and the profound positive impact the therapy dog team made on his recovery.”

Dando and other Le Bonheur Club members have helped welcome therapy dogs and their handlers to the hospital’s inpatient units, pre-operative waiting area, critical care units and outpatient rehabilitation centers, bringing smiles and happy distractions to hundreds of children and caregivers every year.

Le Bon Appetit 

Cooking for a Cause

Le Bon Appetit — a biennial chef showcase spotlighting some of the brightest culinary talent from across the country — was launched in 2012 as the brainchild of acclaimed Memphis chef, Kelly English, and then-Le Bonheur President Meri Armour. Le Bon Appetit was established to raise funds, generate support and grow awareness for Le Bonheur while giving Memphians a chance to connect with some of the nation’s most celebrated chefs — including several celebrity chefs and Food Network stars. Le Bonheur Club was tapped in the event’s inaugural year to bring Le Bon Appetit to life, providing everything from promotional and logistics support to hundreds of hours of boots-on-the-ground volunteer labor

Chef English was eager to support the work of a familyfriendly, child-centered hospital. English spent two months at age 6 in an adult hospital recovering from a life-threatening fall, and his leadership has helped establish Le Bon Appetit as one of the city’s preeminent fundraising and “friendraising” events. In the course of its five iterations, Le Bon Appetit has grown exponentially in size and scope. By 2018, the event had grown to such a large scale that LEO Events, an award-winning event solutions agency, was engaged to oversee Le Bon Appetit’s execution and the party was moved to Memphis’ historic Crosstown Concourse where a record number of attendees joined in the fun.

After bringing LEO Events on board to streamline event logistics, Le Bonheur Club members continued to serve in vital volunteer roles, including the pre-party for guest chefs and sponsors, the Chef’s Breakfast — a Chopped-style cooking event hosted at FedExFamilyHouse for Le Bonheur patients and families — the after party, and of course, the signature event showcasing more than 30 of the nation’s best chefs. Among other duties, many Club members volunteer to serve as a Chef Hostess throughout the week, providing hospitality and support for each of the event’s visiting and local chefs.

When COVID-19 prompted the cancellation of Le Bon Appetit 2020, Chef English and the Club swiftly pivoted to develop a series of virtual cooking classes hosted by featured chefs from the event. Held in the summer of 2021, the event’s seamless virtual adaptation exceeded fundraising expectations and ultimately won English a Crystal Award from the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) Memphis Chapter. And in 2022, Le Bon Appetit returned to Crosstown Concourse for the event’s most successful year yet, a starstudded lineup that won Le Bonheur Children’s and Le Bonheur Club the prestigious Catersource Achievement in Catering Excellence (ACE) Award in the category of Catered Fundraising Event of the Year. 

Since the event’s inception, Le Bon Appetit has raised more than $1 million for specialized medical equipment, child-specific programming and technology. Le Bonheur Pharmacist and Club member Kelly Bobo, who co-chaired 2021 and 2022 Le Bon Appetit alongside Club member Allison Prescott, attributes the event’s success to the communal mentality surrounding its planning and execution.

“It takes a village to pull off an event of this magnitude, from the experts at LEO Events, to the Club members and Le Bonheur staff, to Chef Kelly and the incredible chefs he brings in from all over the country,” said Bobo. “Kelly English is one of the best humans on the planet, and he always goes out of his way to create an intentional roster of celebrity chefs, new chefs, diverse chefs and beloved Memphis chefs. The atmosphere at the 2022 event was positively electrifying — we received so much positive feedback from our attendees about the amazing food, the space and the energy — and it was a truly exhilarating experience, being back together in person again and watching people have such a wonderful time for the sake of Le Bonheur.”

Plans are already underway for Le Bon Appetit 2024, scheduled for June 8, 2024, which promises to build upon the energy and commitment to excellence fueling the event since its beginning. To learn more or to view the chef lineup from 2022, visit www.lebonappetit.org.

Hospital Events and Programs

Extending Hospitality to All

Le Bonheur Club was founded on the core values of hospitality, hope and healing, and Club members have long known that a key element of hospitality is treating others to a good time. That’s why the Club makes a special point to show Le Bonheur Associates, physicians, patients and families lots of love year-round, hosting catered celebrations for Doctors’ Day, Nurses’ Week, the hospital’s birthday and around the Christmas holidays. Club members also host holiday-themed craft parties for patients on special occasions throughout the year, gathering groups in the Family Resource Center that was funded by a financial gift from the Club. 

“Associates and physicians deserve to be recognized and cared for just as much as the patients, because without these individuals, Le Bonheur wouldn’t be able to provide the worldclass patient care that the hospital is known for,” said Lala Dando, Le Bonheur Club member and former Hospital Special Events Chair. “The holiday party we throw each year is one of my favorite events, because it’s a great way to get in the Christmas spirit, boost morale during a busy season and extend a sincere thanks to the staff for their hard work throughout the year.”

Le Bonheur celebrates National Doctors’ Day on March 30 each year, followed by a Nursing Stars Ceremony during National Nurses’ Week each May, and Club members have been lending their support for decades to make these events meaningful and rewarding. Each holiday luncheon, birthday party and staff reception is a labor of love, often requiring hands-on help from as many as 75 Club members to ensure an enjoyable event for Le Bonheur Associates and physicians. Club members also extend hospitality to patients and families at Le Bonheur by stocking family rooms on each unit with “Taste of Home” meals and groceries, as well as circulating a hospitality cart stocked with magazines, coloring books, notepads, crayons, toys and other small items to help pass the time during a hospital stay.

“The collective heart of the hospital staff, families, Club members and community champions is what makes Le Bonheur the incredible place that it is,” said Dando. “We love hosting these events and throwing parties at the hospital to help keep that intangible Le Bonheur spirit going and growing for each generation.”

The Gold Centennial Ball

Celebrating 100 Years Strong

Le Bonheur Club has hosted many amazing formal fundraisers through the years, including a magical evening this spring to celebrate 100 years of the Club. Guests entering the Peabody’s Grand Ballroom on the evening of April 29 were greeted by a stirring sight — the Le Bonheur heart, larger than life, bathed in bright light and suspended over the ballroom’s center stage.

“The moment you see that heart, it reminds you why you’re here,” said Sally Perry, Club member since 2001 and co-chair of The Gold Centennial Ball. “Everyone knows the Le Bonheur heart and what it symbolizes for children and families.”

Perry and fellow Le Bonheur Club member Lauren Barnett co-chaired the Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital Ball in 2015, hosted by Le Bonheur Club, and this year, the two were joined by a third co-chair, Haley Edmonds, and a 45-member planning committee to execute one of the most momentous fundraising events in the Club’s history. Held in celebration of the Club’s 100th anniversary, The Gold Centennial Ball was a magical evening of lighthearted fun, incredible food, time-honored friends and meaningful fellowship, as hundreds gathered at The Peabody Memphis to pay homage to one of our city’s most cherished and longstanding institutions.

Guests heard from Le Bonheur patient and Honorary Ball Chair, Lucy Krull, and her parents, Kate and Erik. The Krull family worked with Le Bonheur to create Le Bonheur Green, a nearly two-acre green space on the hospital’s front lawn that provides healing and hope to patients and their families. Le Bonheur Club recently committed to raise $500,000 for the construction of a dedicated outdoor rehabilitation facility on Le Bonheur Green.

Attendees were also treated to a heartwarming performance from a children’s chorus comprised specially for The Gold Centennial Ball, which included the children and grandchildren of Club members. Choir directors from several area schools loaned their talent — and their student singers — to make this musical tribute to Le Bonheur possible.

As a part of the Centennial Celebration, the Ball chairs created a beautiful embroidered blanket, handstitched to commemorate 100 years of Le Bonheur Club. The blanket reflects the names of 100 individual women or groups of women who have made a lasting positive impact on their community. Ultimately, the blanket will become part of an art installation on the grounds of Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital, where it will hang as a testament to the many women who have made the hospital’s work possible through their ongoing service to Le Bonheur Club. 

Other special tributes included the presentation of two flags — one flown over the Tennessee Capitol and one flown over the U.S. Capitol in honor of Le Bonheur Club — the lighting of the downtown bridge in red and gold, and a “Raise Your Heart” live auction fundraiser where guests were invited to make additional gifts in support of Le Bonheur.

“The Gold Centennial Ball is a celebration of the success achieved across 100 years of Le Bonheur Club’s existence,” said Perry. “That success translates to tens of thousands of children who were able to live their lives and grow into adulthood, healthy and thriving, because they had access to the life-saving care they needed right here in our Memphis community. Everything our Club has achieved has been a collective effort, and it’s the ongoing impact we’ve made on the hospital these past 70 years that humbles us and makes us most proud.”