A very merry anniversary
2024 marks the 75th anniversary of the Merry Mixers, a local nonprofit group of 16 women dedicated to supporting and raising funds for Salem Hospital.
Children's books in the waiting room, spare clothing in the emergency department's supply closet, breast pumps and mini fridges in every maternity room for new parents — these items are just a few examples of the support the Merry Mixers volunteers have offered to Salem Hospital in recent years. The support has a long history, as the Merry Mixers recently celebrated 75 years of helping the hospital enhance the level of care for children in the community and across the North Shore.
Founded in 1950 by a group of Marblehead women — mostly wives of doctors at Salem Hospital — Merry Mixers is a local nonprofit dedicated to supporting and fundraising for the hospital. The group of 16 women, who live in Marblehead and Swampscott, focuses on pediatric care. Since the group's inception, Merry Mixers have raised and donated more than $2 million, with $75,000 coming in last year.
Those dollars have aided the expansion of Salem Hospital's Special Care Nursery, now a Level II B facility for newborns; supported the hospital's Family Resource Center; helped fund a one-of-a-kind outdoor play space for pediatric psychiatry inpatients at the Epstein Center for Behavioral Health; and supported the addition of murals and artwork in each of those spaces. The group's current fundraising goals are a childbirth demonstration model to train new residents or physicians on higher-risk emergency deliveries and video monitoring in the special nursery, which would allow parents with newborns in the NICU to see their children from home.
"There are lots of ways we can support our community," says Merry Mixers co-chair Sarah Pomeroy Wilson, who is in her third and final year of the Merry Mixers. "We meet with the hospital regularly, and doctors and nurses can communicate with us what their needs are. The fundraising makes an immediate impact that the community can see."
Many of the women in the Merry Mixers have personal connections with Salem Hospital or have family members who were treated there. Sarah's husband grew up in the area and underwent pediatric surgery at Salem when he was young, an experience that left a positive impression on him and his family. Her co-chair Chelsea McLaughlin says her husband and brother, along with their parents, were born at Salem, and her three children have found their way to Salem Hospital "in one form or another." Those family connections helped inform her decision to join the group, along with the longstanding legacy of Merry Mixers on the North Shore.
"There's a lot of sisterhood here," Chelsea says. "Being a part of a tradition of Merry Mixers — where people have mothers and grandmothers who were in the group — and celebrating the philanthropy in this community is what makes us well known and unique. Merry Mixers has grown, but it remains true to our founding principles."
Fundraising events include a 50/50 raffle during the winter holidays, where the group announces a local community winner at the Marblehead tree lighting, and a polar plunge in early April at Goldthwait Reservation. Many local business owners donate gift cards in addition to attending events, which Sarah and Chelsea say is a major part of the group's success.
To celebrate the 75th anniversary, the Merry Mixers will hold a gala the end of May at Tedesco Country Club, gathering as many alumni members of the group as possible. The gala tickets sold out two months before the event, emphasizing the group's deep ties to the community and setting the stage for future generations.
"Being part of the Merry Mixers ties us to the community and allows us to hear stories of people who have great experiences at Salem," Sarah says. "We're so lucky the hospital is right in our backyard, and we want to support it and improve it any way we can. The most exciting thing for us is to hear that people found great care for their kids here. In a time when you're in an uneasy situation, it helps a family get the answers they need."
To learn more about the Merry Mixers and get involved, visit MerryMixers.org.