Honoring the Legacy of a Tireless Civic Leader
Established in 1975, the Arnold Guild was one of the first guilds to raise funds for Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center. The Arnold Guild is named for, and honors, civic leader Grace Heffernan Arnold, a tireless philanthropist in the Seattle community who died of cancer in 1960 at the age of 62.
The mission of the Arnold Guild is to assist the fundraising efforts of Fred Hutch by helping to coordinate the annual Hutch Holiday Gala. The goals of the Arnold Guild are to have fun, meet the financial goals of the Guild and promote awareness of Fred Hutch and its mission to unite innovative research and compassionate care to prevent and eliminate cancer and infectious disease.
History
Grace Heffernan Arnold was born in Port Townsend, Washington, and moved to Seattle in the early 1900s. After her marriage to Lawrence M. Arnold, she became a philanthropist in the Seattle community. Among her many interests, she was a founder of the Pacific Northwest Research Foundation, an organization dedicated to medical research and a predecessor of the Hutch. After her death, her husband and her son, Robert M. Arnold, donated a library to the Hutch in memory of Grace and her other son, Lawrence H. Arnold, who also died of cancer.
Activities
The Grace Heffernan Arnold Guild plans and executes key elements of the Hutch Holiday Gala. The Gala is typically held on the first Saturday of December each year. The dinner and auction attracts nearly 800 business and community leaders. To date, the Gala has raised more than $144 million to benefit cancer research at Fred Hutch.
