Night of glamour at Albert Lea’s “Ball in the Mall”
(ABC 6 News) – It was a night of glamour Saturday night in Albert Lea at the Autumn Elegance: Ball in the Mall fundraiser hosted at Northbridge Mall.
The celebration is aimed at raising money for a health care facility at Northbridge that was brought in through a grassroots community effort for more health care options.
Related: The future of the Albert Lea Healthcare Coalition
Now, the facility is looking to expand and bring more elective procedures to the community.
“We don’t have children that are born in Albert Lea,” said the ball’s co-chair Mark Habben. “They have taken away some of the elective procedures and we’re forced to go to neighboring towns and communities to be able to have those services.”
Co-chairs of the Autumn Elegance Ball Mark and his wife Emma finally said enough is enough and came up with the “Ball in the Mall” fundraiser.
The proceeds will go towards expanding and building add-ons to the facility.
Saturday night’s event was a success in more ways than one.
“It’s a great event. We’re raising a lot of money and awareness to what our cause is, but also it’s something for the whole community to enjoy and just get out and have fun,” said Mark.
Everyone in the community played a part in making the night happen, including local food vendors, bars, bands and the 500 people that purchased a ticket to attend.
“We’ve got a lot of great people that have put a lot of time and energy and efforts into getting us to where we’re at tonight and, I mean, it was a true team effort to get us here,” explained Mark.
Guests enjoyed live music and a silent auction, having a good time while making an impact in their community.
“We’ve been talking about it for so long that it’s fun to actually see what it came to be,” Emma added.
The goal for the night was to raise $100,000 and the event’s organizers believe they will exceed that goal.