Congressman Pete King will be the honoree at the Friends of Mercy 46th annual St. Patrick's Gentlemen's Dinner The Friends of Mercy Medical Center will hold its46th Annual Gentlemen's St. Patrick's Dinner on Thursday, March 15th at The Garden City Hotel.

The honoree at the black-tie event will be Representative Pete King, who represents the Third Congressional District and serves as Chairman of the Homeland Security Committee and as a member of the Financial Services Committee and the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.

The chairman of this year's event is Dr. Daniel Murphy of Garden City, Mercy Medical Center's Director of Emergency Services and Senior Director of Patient Care Operations, and immediate past-president of The Friends.

The St. Patrick's Dinner is one of the Friends most convivial events and will include the presentation of the proceeds of The Friends' 2011 fundraising activities, which were pledged to support the recently-constructed Friends of Mercy Physicians Center for members of the Medical Staff, along with expansion and upgrades to the hospital's medical education programs and facilities.

Dr. Dan Murphy, immediate past-president of The Friends of Mercy, is serving as chairman of the group's 46th annual St. Patrick's Gentlemen's Dinner. The Friends of Mercy was founded in 1935 as an organization of men dedicated to volunteering their time and efforts to raise funds for the advancement of medical and surgical care for the patients of Mercy Medical Center as well as construction at Mercy. The Friends raise funds by sponsoring the St. Patrick's Dinner, a Golf Outing in July (www.MercyGolf.com) and The Mercy Ball (www.MercyBall.com) held each year on the first Saturday in December. In the past five years, the Friends have raised nearly

$1.5 million to support hospital facilities, programs and services.

The Gentlemen's Dinner is one of the group's most significant fund-raisers for the Medical Center. For ticket, sponsorship and journal visibility reservations or information please contact Mercy's Development Department at (516)705- 2622.