Plain Businesses rally together to host Community Benefit night for LWFR Captain

LAKE WENATCHEE—A community benefit night for EMT and Lake Wenatchee Fire and Rescue Captain Mike Stanford will be held at Wildflour Restaurant on Apr. 24. All proceeds from the event will support Capt. Stanford and his family as he faces a months-long rehabilitation following an acute medical event.

“People just want to do something, do something to help, do something to support Mike. He’s done so much for our community and our fire department. They want to give something back and this is their way to do it,” said community advocate and volunteer firefighter Katie Walker, who is helping organize the event.

The community night will be open house style, where people can come and go, with live music from Darnell Scott, dishes from Wildflour, wine from Plain Cellars, and a silent auction, which will include golf passes, restaurant gift cards, and local art, to name a few. 

The event has rallied an overwhelming amount of support from local businesses, with food donations from local restaurants Squirrel Tree and Larch, and root beer from Plain Home Brewery. The organizers had so many additional donations coming in that they decided to hold a silent auction.

“I'm really tickled pink. It's really something else. I've been getting calls from people who want to contribute to the event. I got a call yesterday from the fire department, and they said, “Hey, a bunch of us have food handlers cards and MAST permits. Can we come volunteer for the event? Do you need some extra hands? Can we help serve?”...It’s really, really such a sweet show of support,” said Wildflour General Manager Colin Wilkey.

Wilkey said when he announced the event online, he had 60 people RSVP by the next day, which is unheard of for the restaurant.

“That's the beauty of Plain. We have a really tight knit and really wonderful community here, and we all support each other,” said Wilkey.

All proceeds will go to Capt. Stanford who experienced an acute medical emergency in February involving an infection that had spread to internal organs. According to Walker, Capt. Stanford is still hospitalized and facing a long rehabilitation time but is progressing in a positive way. 

“The goal is to have enough money set aside so that Mike's rent can be taken care of, [and] a lot of his expenses can be taken care of. It’s all of those other things that are not covered by insurance, for instance, that we can cover for Mike while he's going through his rehabilitation,” said event organizer Dennis Broughton of Mountain Music Productions.

Capt. Stanford is an EMT at Cascade Medical Center and the EMS Captain for LWFR. He has been with LWFR since 2002, starting as a cadet at the age of 16. The EMS captain has been responsible for securing some of the department’s largest grants over the years and helped the department obtain the first two wildfire detection cameras in Washington state.

“He's literally helped thousands and thousands of people by responding on calls, of course, community events, [and] just reaching out and helping in whatever way he can…He also does a lot of grant work for the department. Hundreds of thousands of dollars come into our fire department because of the work that he does,” said Walker.

The event will be on Apr. 24, from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m., at Wildflour, located at 20700 Club House Drive. Those who cannot attend but would like to donate can go to gofund.me/f1645a04.

Taylor Caldwell: 509-433-7276 or taylor@ward.media