MOSES LAKE – The Columbia Basin Cancer Foundation’s 13th annual Country Sweethearts Benefit Auction returned in-person Saturday, after the COVID-19 pandemic caused the event to be virtual last year, and raised more than $170,000.

This year, organizers decided to keep the virtual part of the live auction, allowing guests to be at the dinner, at the Grant County Fairgrounds, and at home to bid on items.

CBDF Executive Director Angel Ledesma said organizers decided to limit the number of people at the fairgrounds to spread out tables and give people more space. The limitation resulted in 10 fewer tables and 100 fewer guests than usual, she said.

The evening started at 5 p.m., with a silent auction, a photo booth and mingling before dinner at about 6:30 p.m. Michael’s on the Lake catered the dinner, which included baby back ribs, roasted chicken, roasted red potatoes, Caesar salad, green beans and rolls.

There were nearly 30 items sold at the live auction for the nonprofit organization. A couple of interesting items auctioned included a guitar signed by Taylor Swift and a signed football helmet by DeKaylin Zecharius “DK” Metcalf, a wide receiver for the Seattle Seahawks. The guitar sold for $1,800 and the helmet for $4,500.

Toward the middle of the auction, the auctioneer announced the bar raised $900 in tips for the foundation.

Blaise Cordero, a volunteer with the CBCF who delivers meals, said he wanted to support the event because he, like many others in the room, was touched by cancer. He said his father and aunt both died from cancer, along with a close friend.

“I’m here to support anything that we can do to make their (cancer patients’) lives better,” Cordero said.

He said he did not expect the camaraderie of everyone in the room to be so palpable, and it brought him a sense of peace.

Ledesma said the money raised from the event goes to support people in Adams and Grant counties who are fighting cancer. It does not pay for their treatment, but all the small expenses that add up for the patients to get care – such as gas cards and lodging expenses – since most have to travel outside of the Columbia Basin for care.

However, Confluence Health, the CBCF, Wenatchee Valley Medical Group, and the Confluence Health Foundation joined to bring a $12.5 million radiation treatment center to Moses Lake, which is expected to break ground in April.

The auction night ended with dancing and celebrating the thousands of dollars raised to benefit local cancer fighters.