Marathon gala raises $324,000 for Fishermen’s Community Hospital nursing program

Nearly 200 guests packed Oceanfront Park in Marathon and raised more than $324,000 to support the nursing program at Fishermen’s Community Hospital, a boost for the 24/7 emergency room and full-service care the Middle Keys depend on.

The April 10 fundraiser, presented by Geraldine and William Weir, centered on Baptist Health Foundation’s An Evening of Gratitude. Guests moved through a cocktail hour, dinner, a live auction and live music while donors were honored for helping finance care in a place where leaving the island chain for routine treatment can mean time, money and a long disruption to daily life.

The dollars from the night are earmarked for the hospital’s Center for Excellence in Nursing program. That matters in Marathon because the nurses at Fishermen’s Community Hospital are the front line for the state-of-the-art facility, which serves the Marathon community with a 24/7 emergency room and a broad range of services. Supporting nursing excellence is a direct way to strengthen access to care close to home for residents of the Middle Keys.

Drew Grossman, who leads Mariners Hospital and Fishermen’s Community Hospital, said the goal is to make sure the community has access to essential services close to home. Baptist Health Foundation CEO Alex Villoch also pointed to the hospital’s long record of local support, underscoring how much of the facility’s strength comes from philanthropy rather than distance from the mainland.

The Marathon gala continues a strong pattern of backing for the hospital. The 2025 An Evening of Gratitude at Oceanfront Park raised more than $300,000, while the 2024 edition brought in $350,000. Last year’s event honored donor Lynn Voit, whose giving helped establish the first Fishermen’s Community Hospital endowment fund, intended to help meet cancer care needs in the Middle Keys for years to come.

Baptist Health Foundation has used the same event format elsewhere in the Keys as well, including a separate An Evening of Gratitude for Mariners Hospital in Islamorada that drew more than 170 guests at Cheeca Lodge & Spa earlier this year. In Marathon, though, the message was narrower and more immediate: keep the nurses strong, keep the emergency room ready and keep care within reach for Keys residents who cannot afford to lose it.