January 11, 2008

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Sixth annual UAB Center for Palliative Care fundraiser will feature a live and silent auction on Jan. 24 at the B&A Warehouse. Proceeds from the event support the center’s programs and activities.

Auction items include vacation get-a-ways to the Gulf Coast, Appalachian Mountains and New Orleans, featuring breakfast at Brennens. Other items include a chance to shadow Chef Tom Robey at Veranda, a “What Not to Wear” style makeover, a package of designer handbags from Belk and much more.

The evening begins at 6 p.m. with the live auction starting at 7:30 p.m. at B&A Warehouse, 1531 1st Ave. S., Birmingham. Tickets are $100 if purchased before Jan. 14, and $125 afterward. Call 205-975-0848 for tickets or more information. Auction items can be previewed at www.palliative.uab.edu. Jack Granger of Granger, Thagard, and Associates, Inc., will conduct the auction.

The fundraiser salutes Jane Webb, whose generous spirit personifies the event’s theme of “care, comfort and compassion.” Webb is a champion and advocate for palliative care and its importance to the overall well-being of patients and their families. Webb climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in support of breast cancer survivors and is a long-time supporter of UAB’s Center for Palliative Care.

“The UAB Center for Palliative Care has benefited our lives many times in the past several years,” Webb said. “Because of the palliative care team, we had a peace, a comfort and a confidence that we could never have experienced without them.”

Palliative care is a comprehensive approach to caring for people with advanced, life-threatening illness with a focus on the relief of physical, social, emotional and spiritual suffering. UAB has one of the largest palliative care programs in the Southeast, providing services through two state-of-the-art inpatient units, two outpatient clinics, and an active physician consult service at UAB Hospital and the Birmingham Veterans Administration Medical Center.