Fundraising campaign out of the gate quickly

BY ANDREW WALTERS SVN REPORTER awalters@svnmail.com STERLING - The CGH Health Foundation is asking Sauk Valley residents to open their wallets and help the publicly owned CGH Medical Center provide the best care it can. So far, folks have risen to the occasion. In less than a month, the foundation's annual appeal has raised about $80,000 of the $240,000 it hopes to bring in to the hospital by the end of September. The appeal to CGH workers kicked off the annual drive. The goal was $56,000; CGH staff blew by that, donating $65,000, said Joan Hermes, executive director of the CGH Foundation. "Usually, I look at how the employee campaign is doing as a sign of how the community will go," Hermes said. "Normally, we are nowhere near that." Two events this summer also will bring money to the foundation's
coffers: On July 18, CGH will have a food booth at the Grandon Civic Center for the Wednesday night concert, then on July 21, the hospital will sponsor its third Tour De Health community bike ride, which consists of a short, seven-mile family ride up to a 50-mile marathon. Money raised by the foundation helps fund a variety of programs that benefit the community: The Eyeglasses for Kids program, which last year helped pay for glasses for 185 area children, the Prescott Dental Clinic, diabetes education, cancer programs and scholarships. "We try to focus on health areas that are a concern in Whiteside County," Hermes said. Reach Andrew Walters at (815) 625-3600 or (800) 798-4085, ext. 522.