‘Care Close to Home’ raises another $570,000

The “Care Close to Home” fundraising campaign is closing in fast on its $3.5-million goal after town council, area First Nations, and phone-in pledges raised $570,000 in pledges in less than 24 hours.
The campaign total now stands at more than $3.3 million.
During a pancake breakfast at La Verendrye hospital Tuesday morning, which was broadcast live on CFOB, more than $20,000 in pledges were phoned-in by listeners.
It also was announced Tuesday morning that the Aboriginal Diabetes Dialysis Initiative pledged another $250,000 to the “Care Close to Home” campaign.
The group had given $350,000 to the drive last month.
Meanwhile, town council announced Monday night it would pledge an extra $300,000 to the campaign on top of its initial pledge of $100,000.
“Our feeling is the council should continue to build infrastructure. We’re second to nothing and nobody now,” Mayor Glenn Witherspoon said at Tuesday’s pancake breakfast.
“We already have the arena, the theatre. It’s the final piece of the puzzle as far as we’re concerned,” he added.
But Mayor Witherspoon said he also has Robert Nault in his sights, noting he wants to find out if the local MP will match the town’s pledge like he indicated he would when Nault visited here in April.
At the time, Nault said he would help land federal funding for the dialysis unit here if the town pledged money for hospital renovations.
“I will be exercising a challenge that was put to me by Bob Nault. In my arithmetic, which is not complicated, I believe he owes us $400,000,” the mayor said at last night’s council meeting.
Meanwhile, campaign chairman John McTaggart, who served up pancakes Tuesday morning with the rest of the committee–hair nets and all, said the town’s increased contribution was “great news.”
“It’s a big push–it gets us over $3 million,” he enthused.
“I just shows the town council is committed to making this the community the best it can be,” noted Teresa Hazel, director of the Riverside Foundation for Health Care, who was kept busy Tuesday morning taking phone-in pledges.
McTaggart noted as the campaign marches closer to its $3.5-million goal, the community support has been very encouraging.
“The mail-in pledges just keep coming in–the total’s growing everyday,” he remarked. “I’m not sure exactly where it’s at now but look for the newest total in this week’s Times.”
The campaign, which is raising money to help pay the local share of renovations at La Verendrye hospital here and at the Emo health centre, was launched back in June.
The final “Million Dollar Countdown” push began earlier this month, with the intention of reaching its $3.5-million goal by the end of December.