The Palmerton Hospital and the Gnaden Huetten Memorial Hospital in Lehighton both fall under the Blue Mountain Health System, but the hospital auxiliaries are independent from each other.

Mary Ellen Poe, the director of The Hut gift shop at Gnaden Huetten Memorial Hospital, said they share ideas with each other, but explained that the auxiliaries are separate and each has its own volunteers. Because they both fall under Blue Mountain, people tend to think the auxiliaries are connected, too."This gift shop is our main source of funds to the hospital," she said.Their hospital auxiliary was able to donate $30,000 of proceeds from the 2015-16 fiscal year, Poe said."We'd like it to be more," she said.The hospital has used the money to buy scales, wheelchairs and anything else they need.The Hut is located right inside the main entrance to the hospital. Its open 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday with limited hours on Saturday and Sunday. Poe has 17 volunteers, all of whom are nearly 70 years and older."They're very dedicated," she said, but having some younger people volunteer would be nice, too.The gift shop offers greeting cards for $1 or less, soda, water, snacks and lots of candy.Phlebotomist Lea-Ann Surmaitis brought in her co-worker Emily Bittner, a registered nurse, to tell her all about the 2-cent candy. She picked up one of the little paper bags and filled it with several pieces of fruit-flavored chews and Tootsie Rolls."We sell a lot of it," Poe said. "It used to be penny candy, but we were losing money on it."Many of her customers are hospital staff, but people visiting patients come in as well.Gift shop volunteer Laverne Hunsicker said, "I hope people will stop in and support the hospital through our gift shop. I've only been here a year, but I love it. It's such a nice place to help people."In addition to food, the gift shop has plenty of gifts for men, women and children. Poe's favorite items are the angels and Disney characters in the display case, but she also likes the Sesame Street characters and the animated toys. Upon pointing out her favorites, it turns out they're all pretty much her favorites.Hunsicker said she thinks the standout items are the handmade gifts.In addition to volunteering her time as the director of The Hut, Poe also knits baby sweaters, booties and headbands, and sews fabric tote bags. Come cold weather, the hand-knitted hats, mittens and scarves will come out for sale."It's one of the only places you can still buy handmade (items)," she said. "We just have lots of nice gift items."They also have Hallmark gift items, Hunsicker said."But cheaper than at the Hallmark store," Poe said.In addition to the gift shop sales, the hospital auxiliary runs a couple fundraisers and sales. Most recently, they had a Christmas in July sale. On Sept. 1, they will have one of the public's favorite fundraisers - Cookies, Cookies, Cookies. From 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., members of the auxiliary will be selling fresh homemade cookies in the hospital lobby. Poe said some of the annual favorites like oatmeal raisin cookies, ricotta cheese cookies and cream puffs will be there once again.