2/7/2008
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The biggest fund-raiser for Akron Children's Hospital will be hitting the airwaves this weekend for the ninth year.
The 2008 "Have a Heart, Do Your Part" Radiothon will be broadcast on 98.1 WKDD-FM from the atrium lobby of the hospital from 5:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Feb. 8, and 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Feb. 9 and 10.
Disc jockeys Matt Patrick and Angela will be on the air throughout the event as they encourage listeners to pledge their support to the hospital.
According to Laura Jo Hawk, director of annual programs at the hospital, Children's and WKDD partnered in 2000 for the first radiothon, using a model provided by Children's Miracle Network.
"We really didn't have much of an expectation," Hawk said of that first year. "We thought we could raise $50,000, and we blew through that by 9 a.m." the first day.
In the past eight years, the event has raised a total of $4.2 million for the hospital.
While the radiothon format takes place around the world for children's hospitals, Akron has pioneered a unique part locally, the Change Bandit program. Residents are asked to sign up and collect change from friends, family and co-workers throughout January and into the first week of February.
"We had 187 Change Bandits that first year and raised $17,000, and we counted it all by hand," Hawk said. "Each year it gets a little bit bigger and better. Last year, we raised $250,000 with 1,340 Change Bandits."
The Bandit Bash will take place tonight, Feb. 7, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Tangier restaurant in West Akron. Change Bandits will gather to turn in their collections, which will be counted by a crew of volunteers. Prizes will be awarded in several categories to those who collect the most.
The Change Bandit program has been successful, Hawk said, because it can be done by anyone in the community.
"Preschoolers can do it, families can do it, Fortune 500 companies can do it," she said. "They feel like they are making a difference."
While it is too late to sign up to be a Change Bandit this year, Hawk said the hospitals' Web site has a link to sign participants up throughout the year.
The money raised through the radiothon is undesignated funds that can be used for any need at the hospital. Hawk said in the past year, $750,000 of that money was used to buy new medical equipment throughout the hospital.
"It could be anything from an isolette to an ultrasound machine," Hawk said.
While Patrick and Angela are on the air at the hospital, patients, family members and staff will stop by to tell their stories about the hospital.
"It's reality radio at its best," Hawk said.
While the hospital always hopes to raise a little more each year of the radiothon, Hawk said it doesn't publicly state a goal. But it is one of the more successful Children's Miracle Network radiothons.
"In 2006, our radiothon raised more than some of the larger markets in the country, such as Los Angeles, San Francisco and Dallas/Fort Worth," Hawk said.
For more details, call the hospital's department of development at (330) 543-8340 or go to www.akronchildrens.org.
- West Side Leader
byKathleen Folkerth
