THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, June 2, 1994 TAG: 9406020040
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: B2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: STAFF REPORTS
DATELINE: 940602 LENGTH: Medium
``It would be attainable if the community put in an all-out effort to help us,'' said Beth Duke, senior vice president for development and community relations at the hospital. ``These annual funds go to the Children's Hospital fund, and that fund supports research and supports new programs and development of new services for children. It makes possible things that ordinarily we wouldn't be able to do.''
{REST} Local broadcasters will host segments of the Children's Miracle Network Telethon from the hospital lobby, featuring patients who have benefited from the facility's specialized services. The national telethon benefits 161 hospitals, including CHKD, which raised $942,297 locally last year.
Children's Hospital has been part of the telethon for 10 years. In its first year of participation, 1984, the hospital raised $185,000. Given the rate at which local donations have risen, the $1 million mark looks attainable this year.
The 1993 national telethon raised more than $116 million.
``This is a really major event for us,'' Duke said. ``Historically, Children's Hospital has always involved the community in its fund-raising programs because we are giving back to the community through its children and quality health care. This is just a real tangible way that the community can pick up the phone and make a difference for our hospital.''
WVEC-TV 13 will broadcast the telethon live from the hospital lobby from 11:35 p.m. Saturday until 8 p.m. Sunday.
Local patients to be featured include Autumn Hendershot, a teen equestrian from Chesapeake who successfully battled cancer and leg amputation; Cory Maier, a Hampton infant who underwent surgery to correct a cleft lip and palate when he was only three days old; and 1-year-old Daughtry Wright, a premature infant who weighed just 1 pound at birth.
Others featured will be Christian Mateer, a toddler who survived severe food poisoning, and Mika Fox, a Down syndrome child who receives help at the Children's Development Center at CHKD.
National celebrity hosts include Marie Osmond, John Schneider, Mary Hart and Merlin Olsen.
CHKD is the region's only specialized hospital for pediatric care. The 166-bed hospital serves eastern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina with neonatal and pediatric intensive care, heart transplants, craniofacial and urological reconstructive surgery, cancer treatment and more then 50 outpatient specialty programs addressing such problems as lead poisoning, sickle cell disease, chronic asthma, cystic fibrosis and diabetes.
by CNB