With many women dressed in maternity evening gowns and men in tuxedos accessorized with burp cloths, supporters of the Tepeyac Family Center gathered at the Dulles Hilton in Herndon last Saturday.

The second annual Divine Mercy Care Gala raised $140,000 for Tepeyac Family Center in Fairfax. According to Julie O’Donnell, gala chairwoman, more than 350 people attended the gala, showing an increase from last year.

"I hope we’ll just keep getting bigger and bigger," she said.

Earlier this year, Dr. John Bruchalski, founder of Tepeyac, was diagnosed with pancreatitis and was out on sick leave for three months. According to Dr. Marie Anderson, the three remaining doctors all pitched in during his absence.

The doctors knew he needed to recover, and "we knew he would," she said.

"When you get very sick you have to thank a lot of people," Bruchalski said, adding that he was most grateful to everyone who prayed for him. It was evident — even to his doctor at Johns Hopkins Hospital — that people were praying for him making for a speedy recovery. "Please give yourselves a round of applause for saving my life."

Tepeyac also has a new executive director. Bob Laird, who is "on loan" from the diocese for a year, said he is thrilled to help the center. He congratulated Dr. Daniel Fisk and Anderson for running a business and delivering babies for so long.

"I’m not walking into something that needed a lot of help, just a little leadership," he said.

Laird knew Bruchalski when he first envisioned Tepeyac and understood right away that the Tepeyac model "makes no sense in the secular world," Laird said. But it is filled with "the healing power of Jesus Christ."

From the first day Laird walked into Tepeyac, he took control of the office and has been working to improve the administration, said Anderson.

Several awards were given out during last Saturday’s program. The Our Lady of Guadalupe Award was renamed the Susan M. Torres Award. Bruchalski greatly admired what Susan and Jason Torres did this summer to bring their child to term.

"She was a mother who made the ultimate sacrifice to save the life of her child," he said. Even though the child died soon after the delivery, Bruchalski said that baby Susan affected her family, the hospital staff and all those who heard the story.

"Her life was not without meaning," he said.

The award recognizes a patient who has especially lived the gospel of life. This year’s recipients were Catherine and Peter Scheibmeir. On her seventh pregnancy, Catherine used a "secular" physician. Because of a long history of complicated pregnancies, this physician told her she couldn’t leave the hospital without having her tubes tied.

After the experience, she returned to Tepeyac to have her tubes untied. She and her husband are now expecting their eighth child.

"She thought she would find peace when she had her tubes tied," said Anderson, who told the couple’s story. "We find peace when we follow God’s plan."

"It’s the dignity of the human person we want to return to medicine," Bruchalski said. "This is how we can reclaim the culture for the Lord."

One of the center’s goals for the next year is to start networking with other centers throughout the nation that are following the same mission as Tepeyac.

"This is going to change the face of medicine," Bruchalski said.

"We preach pro-life, but this is an organization that can step up and do it," said Therese Bermpohl, interim director of the Office of Family Life. "It’s one thing to say we’re pro-life instead of actually being out there providing services and taking care of women."

Joni Abdalla and her family traveled from Indianapolis for the gala. She was a Tepeyac patient while she lived in Northern Virginia and still supports the work.

"This is the answer to the culture of death," she said.

Lynn Bateman, a member of St. Lawrence Parish in Alexandria, came to the gala to support the cause of Tepeyac. When she was a young girl, she had a baby out of wedlock, and she said, back "in those days" there were no organizations to help her through it. She feels very empathetic to women in a similar situation.

"Having a baby is worth it. It always pays off," she said.

"We leave our sonogram appointment saying how much we love our doctors," said Lori Gehl, an expectant mother from St. Leo the Great Parish in Fairfax.

"On more than one occasion I have called Dr. Bruchalski, Father Bruchalski," said Matt Norton, a member of St. Mary of the Mills Parish in Laurel, Md. His wife, Mary, agreed that she looks to "Dr. B" as a spiritual guide as well as a medical doctor.