(BURTON, Mich.) — The third annual Cars 108 Let’s Make Miracles Radiothon, which took place Sept. 15-16, raised $82,015 for Hurley Children’s Hospital, exceeding its target goal by more than $7,000.
Hosted by on-air personality Lisa Marie Berkelbaugh, the radiothon lasted for two days and ran from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. on air, featuring hourly interviews with “Hurley miracles,” former patients helped by the hospital.
Many local businesses sponsored the event and offered donation matches to help the team reach their fundraising goal of $75,000. Some businesses with personal connections to former Hurley patients provided lunches and other in-kind donations for the event.
Since 1990, Hurley Children’s Hospital has been part of Children’s Miracle Network, a non-profit organization funding 170 hospitals across the U.S. and Canada that provide health care to children.
Living Miracles
Children, who were once patients at Hurley, return each year for the radiothon to tell their stories and explain how the hospital helped them. The children include former NICU babies, cancer patients, diabetics, and injury survivors.
This was the first radiothon for Nathan Reed, new co-host of “Cars 108’s Wake-Up Show with Nathan and Lisa Marie.”
“The brave families were so strong to relive their emotional stories on air with us,” Reed said. “The Hurley miracle children helped provide levity, too. Third-grader Carsen, a former Hurley patient returning to the radiothon for his third year, sang Rick Astley’s ‘Never Gonna Give You Up.’ We all got a big kick out of that.”
Carsen, a former Hurley patient, sang for the radiothon this year.
Berkelbaugh said she “couldn’t help but cry” as she announced the final total to Cars 108 listeners.
“I’m just overcome by the generosity of our community, our sponsors, our listeners, everyone,” she said. The final check came out to $82,015, a big jump from the previous year’s total of $66,775. Although the radiothon has ended, people can still contribute to the hospital here.
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