Photo courtesy of Limelight Images Jacqueline’s Bridal in Poland hosted its fifth annual Wedding Rewind charity event to benefit Lifebanc March 21 at Drake’s Landing Banquet Center in Canfield. From left are Lifebanc employees Shayna Mims (transplant coordinator), Autumn Ziemba McKenzie (community services manager) and Mary Sansone (hospital services coordinator). The event raised $27,500, bringing the total raised in five years to $114,500.

CANFIELD — Jacqueline’s Bridal in Poland hosted its annual Wedding Rewind charity event March 21 at Drake’s Landing Banquet Center, bringing the community together for an evening supporting Lifebanc, the nonprofit organ, eye and tissue recovery organization serving Northeast Ohio.

Now in its fifth year, Wedding Rewind has become a signature fundraising and awareness event dedicated to encouraging organ donation and highlighting the lifesaving impact of transplantation. Over the past four years, the event has raised more than $87,000 to support Lifebanc’s mission. This year’s event raised $27,500, bringing the total raised in five years to $114,500.

Guests enjoyed a dinner buffet, open bar, music and a silent auction, along with opportunities to register as organ donors and learn more about the importance of organ donation.

“We are incredibly grateful to Jacqueline’s Bridal and the entire community that supports Wedding Rewind,” said Autumn Ziemba McKenzie, manager of community services at Lifebanc. “Events like this help raise awareness about the critical need for organ donors while supporting Lifebanc’s mission to save and heal lives through donation.”

Wedding Rewind has supported organizations including the American Cancer Society, the National MS Society and local initiatives such as Shop with a Cop and the development of Walnut Grove. The event later took on a deeply personal meaning for the Jacqueline’s Bridal family when owner Jackie Stout’s son-in-law, Eddie Bonilla, received a lifesaving liver transplant. Following that experience, the focus of Wedding Rewind shifted to raising awareness about organ donation and supporting Lifebanc’s work so that more families have the same chance at life.

“After watching my son-in-law receive the gift of life through organ donation, our family wanted to do something that would help others experience that same miracle. Wedding Rewind is our way of bringing the community together to celebrate life, raise awareness about organ donation and support the lifesaving work of Lifebanc” Stout said.

Stout’s daughter, Amber Bonilla, an educator with Struthers City Schools, has since become an advocate for organ donation, helping bring awareness to the lifesaving impact of transplantation through the annual Wedding Rewind event.

Lifebanc is Northeast Ohio’s non-profit organ, eye and tissue recovery organization with a mission to save and heal lives. Marking its 40th anniversary, the organization serves more than four million people and works with 80 hospitals in a 20-county area. Lifebanc facilitates the organ, eye and tissue recovery and donation processes, provides extensive care and support services to donor families and facilitates community outreach and education programs to encourage registration on the Ohio Donor Registry. For more information on Lifebanc or to register as an organ, eye and tissue donor visit www.lifebanc.org.