On Tuesday March 10, Fort Frances Canadian Tire owner John Malgo and his wife Marinela handed off a cheque for $20,000 to support Riverside Health Care’s Lights, Camera, Diagnosis! fundraising campaign.
Malgo, who has owned the Fort Frances store for 11 years, said he really believes in the cause, which is working to bring advanced diagnostic imaging equipment to the Rainy River District.
“I think it’s super important that we give back to the community we make our living in,” he said. “When you have people and families that have to travel for what you would consider routine procedures or check-ups down south, it’s an amazing cause here in town and I’m very grateful to be able to support it.”
Riverside Health Care Facilities Director of Fundraising Holly Kaemingh says this is the largest donation the campaign has received from a local business.
“It’s the largest donation from a local business in the area,” she said.
“So we’re so grateful, so excited to see this campaign moving forward. We are right around $165,000 away from our goal. So that is very exciting as we move into the spring and summer. So yeah, we’re really, really grateful for all the support of our community and really excited to see this MRI and X-ray project come to life.”
Andrea Faragher is Riverside’s Director of Diagnostic Services, she says the project will go to tender in the coming months with hopes of getting construction started soon.
“So we’re going out for tender, hopefully by April 30 of this year, and then we’re sort of at the liberty of those bids,” she said.
“But the goal would be to have [construction] completed by fall, and then have the equipment in by December, January.”
The MRI machine itself will be made to order and it takes about six months to build the machine itself.
“It takes 26 weeks to build, the machine gets built custom made for Riverside, they’re not pre-made sitting in a warehouse,” Faragher added.”
There will be another opportunity for the public to participate in the fundraising campaign this week in Fort Frances
On Friday, March 13, the Fort Frances Lakers are hosting a Hockey Fights Cancer night in aid of the campaign as well. MRIs and X-Rays are important diagnostic technologies used in the detection and diagnosis of various cancers.
The Lakers will be wearing special Uniforms sponsored by Safeway Fort Frances. For every fan through the doors at Friday’s game, John Gavel Manufacturing, Kitchen Creek Golf Course, Little Otter Resource Management and M.L. Judson Trucking have pledged $1 to the campaign, for a total donation of $4 per person. There will also be an opportunity to donate to the cause, as well as a chuck a puck fundraiser.
