By MINDY KEPFIELD

Staff writer

St. Luke Hospital’s kitchen has a new range to replace one that was worse for wear and a new dishwasher will be delivered soon, thanks to its auxiliary.

The new range already is a boon to the staff, St. Luke dietary manager Shawna Pierce said.

“We’re so blessed,” she said. “Auxiliary is wonderful. We couldn’t be happier.”

Peggy Blackman, treasurer for the auxiliary, said the range cost $8,100. The dishwasher will be delivered after $1,500 worth of new plumbing is installed.

The appliances are the latest need the auxiliary has been able to help with, even in a year that shut St. Luke Auxiliary Shoppe for three months in response to a pandemic.

So far, the auxiliary has contributed $79,064.16, and has about $145,000 in the bank, said Blackman.

She is grateful for volunteers who logged nearly 7,355 hours to keep the shop running for the city and the hospital.

“It takes all of us to operate it,” she said, adding that it takes 14 just to run the cash registers on the weekend.

“We’re all just volunteers, even our co-managers Mary Ann Conyers and Walter Hein who spend so much time.”

In recent years, the auxiliary donated money for the renovation of the living center, helped with room expenses, and added a tub and spa for physical therapy.

The organization has also paid for work on the home health department building, and remodeled a clinic waiting room.

Bargain hunters who gather in a small line that outside the store every Friday have been buying a lot of winter coats, shoes and clothes, but Christmas-themed items are also available, she said. Last Friday the store cleared $1,300.

The store’s offerings can be “sporadic” depending on donations, but there is no telling what shoppers will snap up.

“We had one woman from Kansas City, Missouri, and she absolutely loaded up four of our carts — at least four, I lost count,” Blackman said. “She was buying figurines. She spent a total of $464.”