| Supporters of Supporters of the 16th annual Country 105 Caring For Kids Radiothon have responded with incredible generosity to help children and families at the Alberta Children’s Hospital. That generosity was then tripled when the Crist Family Foundation and an anonymous donor through the Calgary Foundation each matched every dollar, revealing a record-breaking total of more than $6.6 million.
Minutes before wrapping up the live broadcast event, on-air personalities from Country 105 (CKRY-FM) announced that Radiothon supporters had phoned, clicked online and walked into the hospital with more than $2.2 million in gifts. With matching funds added, this year’s total donations for the Alberta Children’s Hospital reached a North American milestone. This brings the overall Radiothon total since 2003 to more than $31.1 million.
“Given how significantly our province has been affected by the economy, this level of support is even more special,” says Saifa Koonar, President & CEO of the Alberta Children’s Hospital Foundation. “It demonstrates that no matter what challenges people in our community face, the Alberta Children’s Hospital remains close to everyone’s hearts. We are greatly humbled by such generosity from so many.”
Over the course of three days, the public was encouraged to make their donations to the hospital go three times further by taking advantage of the matching opportunity. Both matching donors chose to keep the focus of the event on the 70 families who shared their personal stories with Country 105, with Mr. Tom Crist agreeing to reveal his identity only during the final hour on Friday night. Each family expressed their gratitude for the exceptional care they received from specialists at the Alberta Children’s Hospital – and helped to highlight in real terms how donations help save and change lives at the hospital every day.
“The opportunity to have every donation doubled, and then tripled was incredibly exciting!” says Phil Kallsen, Program Director, Country 105. “The energy it created not only propelled the giving spirit of this community, it raised an astounding amount of much-needed funds for the Alberta Children’s Hospital – a place very special to all of us at Country 105 and our listeners.”
Further support for the Alberta Children’s Hospital can be made online at childrenshospital.ab.ca
The official phone bank sponsor of this year’s event – for the ninth year in a row – was Brookfield Residential.
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Alberta Children’s Hospital Foundation
Through the generosity of donors, the Foundation provides funding for innovative programs, state-of-the-art equipment, advanced medical training and internationally-recognized pediatric research. The Alberta Children’s Hospital Foundation is a founding partner of the Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute, as well as the primary funder.
www.childrenshospital.ab.ca.
Country 105 is a Corus Entertainment Network. |
