For a 16th year, Moose FM’s Muskoka stations are raising money for our two hospitals.
105.5 Moose FM Huntsville and 99.5 Moose FM Bracebridge will be live from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on Oct. 6 in support of the Huntsville Hospital Foundation (HHF) and South Muskoka Hospital Foundation (SMHF).
“We love our radiothon at 105.5, it’s a great day of working together with the people there,” says Katherine Craine, HHF Chief Executive Officer. “Our staff have a great time, and we raise quite a lot of money. I think the community has come to expect the radiothon and anticipate it. We always get great turnout.”
According to Craine, the money helps out the final stretch of the foundation’s Focus on Imaging Campaign, which needs to raise about $1.5-million by April to replace diagnostic imaging equipment at the Huntsville Hospital.
“There are a lot of big-ticket items, the MRI being the biggest of the tickets, but we do have a lot of other items as well,” says Craine, adding the mammography and CT suites are also being upgraded. “We have replaced a number of the machines in the diagnostic imaging department, so we’ll end up with all brand-new equipment in that department.”
In Bracebridge, SMHF Executive Director Leah Walker says the funds go towards emergency care and the departments that support it. She says that includes a $45,000 infant-warmer, several vital sign monitors costing around $4,500 each, and other necessary lab equipment.
“That’s not just the emerge, but also if people need to get a bone scanned and see if they broke it, or they need to get blood work done in the lab,” says Walker. “It’s the other departments that support it as well. We have equipment needs throughout all of them, and we have an extremely, extremely busy emergency department. So being able to support them with all the proceeds from this special day is really important, and a nice way to say thank you.”
Walker adds the Bracebridge Hospital is continuing to run well over capacity, despite being past the busy summer season.
“Usually it tapers off around this time, and it’s really not. It’s almost going in the other direction. Today the numbers were at 157 per cent occupancy,” says Walker. “It just shows how hard our teams are working. So being able to have this day and have the community support them, say ‘we’re here for you, we appreciate you’ and fundraise for them, is really timely and really nice.”
Jenny Faulkner, Moose FM’s Cottage Country Cluster Manager, says we are proud to host this annual event– especially leading into a weekend to be thankful and to celebrate family and friends.
“We’re excited to continue supporting both Muskoka’s hospital sites with our annual radiothon,” says Faulkner. “Every year, we are just incredibly grateful to have our community partners, volunteers, our clients and, most importantly, our listeners come together to get behind such a worthy cause.”
Craine and Walker, as well as other staff and volunteers from both foundations will be on-air at our respective stations all day.
To donate to the South Muskoka Hospital Foundation, visit its radiothon page or call 705-645-2218. For the Huntsville Hospital Foundation, visit its website or call 705-789-4756.
