On behalf of my co-chairman, Phil Upchurch and the entire Board of Trustees of the Cancer Association of Champaign County, I want to thank everyone who helped make our celebrity waiter dinner this year such a success. We served 84 dinner guests, and our celebrity waiters collected a record number $3,947 in tips. All told with our sale of airplane ride raffle tickets, we totaled $4,547 for the cancer association.

I want to thank Eileen and her entire staff at the Coppertop for another amazing job. Specifically Kim, Brenda, Heather, Regina, Jess, Jim, Thoron, Sierra and Sarah out front and Kathy, Jared, Tyler, Bernard, and Dylan in the kitchen. I also want to thank Patrick Field for allowing us to host the event again at his restaurant and for his generous donation, and the restaurant’s accountant, Mike Houseman for selflessly filling in as one of our waiters in a time of need.

Thanks as always to our celebrity waiters who once again did a fantastic job, setting a new record for tips. Tammy Vernon, Dave Bacher, Bryan Thompson and Paul Waldsmith. The donation of your time and talent to this event is so greatly appreciated.

Thanks to my co-chairman, the very persuasive Phil Upchurch for selling $600 worth of raffle tickets.

Thanks to Jerry Damewood for donating a flight in his airplane as our raffle prize.

Most importantly, thank you so much to our dinner guests. Your donations seem to grow every year. It is truly heartwarming. Understand that because the cancer association of Champaign County is made up of all volunteers, nearly every penny donated will go to provide some type of assistance to family members, friends or neighbors right here in Champaign County fighting this horrible disease. Know also that with your continued generosity and support, we will fight alongside them until the day comes when it is no longer necessary to have a celebrity waiter dinner.

Brett Gilbert

Cancer Association of Champaign County

Board of Trustees