This year marks UNM Children’s Hospital’s 12th annual Radiothon fundraiser, hosted by 100.3 The Peak, to raise money for the children’s hospital.
The two-day event raises about $200,000 every year by broadcasting patients, families and medical professionals sharing stories of medical miracles that occurred at the children’s hospital.
“This is a very important event. It is our largest fundraiser of the year for the children’s hospital to ensure they get the programs and services that they need. It typically goes to equipment that’s needed, it funds programs and a large chunk of it goes to support our Child Life program which is not covered by any insurance so it relies heavily on donations,” said Kathryn Richards, associate director of development for the Children’s Miracle Network.
Child Life is a program for hospitalized children, said Julia Grimes, director of Child Life at the UNM Children’s Hospital. The program helps them cope with the situation of hospitalization, and essentially allows them to be kids.
“There would be very few games or toys or art supplies in our playroom without the funding that the Radiothon gets every year,” she said.
Grimes said that all of the supplies and developments come from donated dollars.
“Play is the work of children, it is very important in children’s development for them to continue developing for them to use play to explore and learn and understand and work through events that are very stressful. The Radiothon helps fund Child Life, helping the children get through such a stressful environment and understand it all,” Grimes said.
Every year the hospital chooses a child to become the Champion Child, and this year it is Myles Bargus. Vannesa Bargus, Myles’ mother, said that Champion Children are essentially ambassadors for UNMH, in that they help to raise money and get to go to the White House and meet other children from across the country.
“Mostly they’re the poster child for the year that they are chosen to do the most that they can in their community with their family and just to give back to the hospital for that they’ve done for us, even though we could never repay them for all that they’ve done,” Vannesa Bargus said.
She said the Radiothon is important because it reaches so many people in such a short amount of time.
“Every dollar that they earn goes straight to the kids,” she said. “Nothing is taken out, no percentages go any where else. It all goes to toys, coloring books, blankets, games anything that makes a child’s experience here a little more enjoyable.”
The money from the community is needed in order to give the hospital the tools they need to make kids feel like it is their second home, Vannesa Bargus said.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
“There are many days where this is the last place we want to be, but they put a smile on my kid’s face,” she said.
Richards said UNM Children’s Hospital raises about $1.6 million a year and the Radiothon raises $200,00 (or 12.5 percent) of that in just two days, making it a significant event for the hospital and the children admitted.
“It’s a large amount of what we need on an annual basis, I don’t know what we would do without our Radiothon,” she said.
Denicia Aragon is a staff reporter with the Daily Lobo. She can be contacted at news@dailylobo.com on Twitter @dailylobo.
