Manor starts fund raiser event

FROM LEFT -- Hammons Realty Co. owner Phil Hammons talks with Fort Scott Manor Maintenance Director Bill Rost and Administrator William Fischer on Monday after Hammons Realty was chosen as the first stop for Fort Scott Manor's Relay for Life fund raiser. For this year's fund raiser, Fort Scott Manor is placing a saddle-covered bedside commode outside local homes and businesses. The home or business owner can then make a donation to the Relay for Life to have the commode removed. The theme of this year's fund raiser is "Saddle Up." Tribune photo/Brett Dalton

A local nursing home kicked off its Relay for Life fund raiser on Monday by placing bedside commodes in front of homes and businesses in Fort Scott.

Fort Scott Manor, 736 Heylman St., began it's fund raiser Monday morning by placing a bedside commode with a saddle on it outside Hammons Realty Co. in Fort Scott. This year's drive, with a theme of "Saddle Up," is similar to Fort Scott Chamber of Commerce's previous method of placing pink flamingos around town.

The way the fund raiser works, according to maintenance director Bill Rost, is someone pays $10 to have the commode placed in front of a local home or business. The business owner or resident then pays $10 to have it removed and can also pay an additional $10 to purchase insurance that guarantees the commode will not show up at that home or business again.

Rost said Fort Scott Manor does not have a specific money goal in mind, adding that the fund raiser will continue "until we run out of places to put it or we run out of time."

Rost said last year's similar fund raiser with the flamingos was a success and he expects this year's with the commodes to be the same.

"It's just really fun," Rost said. "People really get into it."