UT Health cardiologist Dr. Christopher Cooper will be collecting tips, not giving them, when he works as a celebrity waiter on Monday, Aug. 24.

Dr. Cooper, executive vice president for clinical affairs and dean of the College of Medicine and Life Sciences, will be among the celebrity wait staff raising money for the college’s Mundt Cardiology Endowment Fund from 5:30-9 p.m. at Loma Linda, 10400 Airport Highway, Swanton.

The University of Toledo Medical Center and the Mundt family are hosting “From the Heart,” which is the fifth annual celebrity wait event.

“It is an event we have been doing for five years. It has been very popular from the first year on and we have been very successful,” said Al Mundt, whose family owns Loma Linda.

Mundt had a heart transplant in 1998 at the former Medical College of Ohio.

“My heart was giving out; it was working only 12 percent,” he said. “I have had this new heart for 17 years and it has been going very well.”

Established in 2008, the endowment supports new and innovative programs such as the Left Ventricle Assist Device that will one day make heart transplantation again available in Toledo.

“All the tips raised by the celebrity waiters will go toward the fund,” said Laura Robinson, senior major gifts officer. “Every year, we are fortunate enough to raise $30,000 to $40,000 for this incredibly worthy cause. In addition, the patrons truly enjoy seeing their doctors and other UT staff as waiters. ”

Wait staff will include UT Women’s Basketball Coach Tricia Cullop and UT’s Men’s Basketball Coach Tod Kowalczyk. UTMC cardiologists Dr. Mark Bonnell, Dr. Mark Burket, Dr. Jeffrey Hammersley, Dr. Samer Khouri, Dr. George Moukarbel and Dr. Thomas Schwann will serve as celebrity waiters as well.

The evening will feature a raffle with a grand prize of $5,000. Tickets, which are $10 each, can be purchased at either Loma Linda or Ventura restaurants, or through Robinson or Felicia Guerrero.

Cooper hopes that the community comes out for a good cause — and a good meal.

“I love the food at Loma Linda’s, and my favorite is shrimp tacos,” he said.

For more information about the event and raffle tickets, contact Robinson at 419.383.6645 or laura.robinson@utoledo.edu.

Tags: The University of Toledo Medical Center (UTMC)