Planning taking shape for 2nd annual RPH fundraiser; advance tickets available
We are hard at work planning the second annual RPH Memorial Foundation fundraiser in memory of Ryan Patrick Hoshaw, scheduled for 5-9 p.m. Friday, Sept. 25, in Downtown Trenton.
If it seems like, “Wow, that’s coming up really quick,” we completely agree! We’ve moved it up about six weeks ahead of the date of last year’s inaugural event.
While the shorter turnaround time makes our planning efforts a little more challenging, we had a few specific reasons for wanting to do it sooner. One goal in moving it was to create a little more distance from the busy holiday season. We also prefer holding it before a series of meaningful calendar dates that are tied closely to our loss.
Ryan died Oct. 6, 2024. Ryan and his wife, Carly, were married Oct. 24, 2022. Ryan’s birthday is Nov. 2 (He would have been turning 31 this year). In the grief process, dates such as these commonly trigger your deepest sense of loss and require special reverence in terms of the activities or observances you plan for them. And, of course, all those who have experienced the loss of a close loved one know how complicated and challenging emotions can become during the holiday season. So, quite honestly, we wanted to get ahead of all that and not have to try to plan the event while grappling with the emotional weight of those meaningful dates.
So, Sept. 25 it is!
While we have our work cut out for us planning wise, we are buoyed by the prospect of seeing you sooner rather than later, so please mark your calendar with RPH in bold lettering!
Another notable change is we are moving our main event location — but not far. In fact, we are only going a few hundred feet north, to Le Lieu, a relatively new and amazing banquet facility at 2920 West Jefferson Ave. It is right next to last year’s host site, RiverTown Tavern, separated only by an outdoor courtyard.
The folks at RiverTown were awesome to work with last year, and we are incorporating them into this year’s plans as well — as both an adjunct location for additional space during the event and as a place to be able to stick around for an afterglow later into the evening. We are also hoping the earlier date will mean warmer temperatures, which gives us a better chance to make use of the outdoor space between RiverTown and Le Lieu.
Attached to this email is our new flier with all the key event details. Please save a copy and feel free to share it with others (Please, please, please share!) But just to clue you in here on the basics: tickets are $50 and include dinner, 10 raffle tickets and a 2026 RPH Memorial Foundation bracelet.
Like last year we will be raffling off a bountiful array of gift baskets. In fact, several of you who were on hand last year have reached out and offered to provide or sponsor baskets for this year’s raffles. We so much appreciate your help and enthusiasm! Anyone else interested in donating gift baskets or gift cards can email Carly at carlyhoshaw@rphmemorial.org.
We are also pleased to announce that RPH Memorial Foundation just recently provided a total of $4,500 in donations to three different charitable entities with proceeds from last year’s event. The largest donation, $3,000, was awarded to Rogel Patient & Family Support Services at Michigan Medicine (University of Michigan Hospital), and $1,000 to Paws4Patients at U of M as well. Our inaugural donation was $500 to The Terry Fox Foundation. These are organizations and causes that had significant meaning to Ryan. Stay tuned for more details on all of that. We will do a separate report to share soon on those donations and our future giving strategy. The main thing we want to say right now is that it is “thanks to you” that we were able to do this, and that your support of last year’s event has inspired us to try and do even more.
Tickets to the event are available upon arrival to the event or by prepaying at the RPH Memorial Foundation Venmo account.