When the COVID-19 pandemic forced Maison McCulloch Hospice to cancel the fundraisers that are its lifeblood, the Sudbury palliative care facility had to get creative to keep operating funds flowing in.
In April, the hospice’s scotch-tasting fundraiser was cancelled due to COVID-19. Then, in May, its major Hike for Hospice fundraiser was postponed — it could possibly be rescheduled for October, but there are no guarantees.
At this point, it also looks like if the hospice’s popular butterfly release in August is held at all, it will be a scaled-down version.
Memorial donations from funerals, which usually bring in $23,000 a month, are also very much reduced due to the pandemic, as are contributions from individual benefactors.
Government funding provides only about 60 per cent of the hospice’s operating expenses, which means the remainder — around $63,000 per month — must be raised in the community.
So Maison McCulloch got creative to come up with new revenue streams. One of those ideas was partnering with Pure Country 91.7 for a radio telethon — or Care-A-Thon — to solicit monetary pledges from the public.
The hospice hoped the event would raise $25,000 — about what it normally would have raised through the August butterfly release. The Sudbury Police Association, the event’s sponsor, donated $10,000, leaving organizers with hopes of raising $15,000 in community pledges to reach the goal.
Turns out, they didn’t need hope, because Sudburians responded, in droves, to the Care-A-Thon.
The event raised a whopping $153,000, more than six times the original goal.
“This is incredible!” said Gerry Lougheed, who chairs the Hospice Foundation. “The generous people of Sudbury are keeping the Hospice doors open. All funds are used to pay the daily operational expenses ($63,000 a month). Sudburians sharing is helping our Hospice’s caring.”
The telethon was broadcast by Sudbury radio station Pure Country 91.7 on July 8 and livestreamed on the media outlet’s Facebook page. Lougheed co-hosted the event alongside Pure Country morning host Coop.
