It’s been a remarkable fundraising season for the Haliburton Highlands Health Services Foundation (HHHSF), with executive director Melanie Klodt Wong this week confirming the ‘Here for You in the Highlands’ campaign has surpassed $5 million in donations.
Launched in the spring to help pay for new CT scanner and mammography units, Klodt Wong said the campaign, which had a goal of $4.3 million, is one of the most successful she’s ever been involved in.
This year’s Radiothon, hosted in partnership with MooseFM, brought in a record $537,000, while the 2024 Matt Duchene Charity Golf Classic raised $222,000 – with that money used to buy new CPR assist devices for the Haliburton ER, bladder scanners, new ice machines for the Haliburton in-patient unit, and room upgrades at Highland Wood and Hyland Crest long-term care homes.
The effort has been back-stopped by some major individual donations – Scott and Chere Campbell donated an initial $500,000 and matched community donations up to an additional $500,000, the Cockwell family and Haliburton Forest & Wild Life Reserve gifted another $500,000, while cottager Richard Muir matched donations on another $200,000.
This week, Kennisis Lake cottagers Christine Tutssel and Rob Holl got in on the action, offering to match all gifts made between Sept. 23 and Oct. 31 up to another $500,000.
“Haliburton has a very special place in our hearts for our family. Our kids grew up on the lake and now our grandchildren are enjoying the same privilege,” Tutssel said, challenging all lakefront property owners to donate.
“We reside in the Kitchener-Waterloo area where resources are relatively abundant to support local needs, but the need in Haliburton County is great and resources are far more limited. We are making this contribution because we know in Haliburton, it will make a real difference,” she added.
Klodt Wong said newer donations will go towards replacing x-ray equipment in the Haliburton ER, with the current suite 12 years old and past its end of life. According to the Canadian Association of Radiologists, general diagnostic devices should be replaced every 10 years.
Klodt Wong estimates needing another $1 million to pay for the x-ray replacement and relocation, with the device to be moved out of the ER closer to the new CT unit.
Given HHHS receives no funding for facility upgrades and equipment replacement, fundraisers like this are especially vital, Klodt Wong said.
“It has been an unprecedented summer… I’ve only been in the community for a few years and I continue to be blown away by the support, generosity and rallying that happens when communities come together,” she said.
Referencing the record-breaking Radiothon, Klodt Wong said it was a crazy couple of days with a surreal ending.
“As the dollars came in and more people made donations of all sizes, it truly felt that the community was pushing us towards our goal and beyond,” she said. “Rick (Lowes, MooseFM host) and I kept looking at each other, shocked that these were the real numbers.
“This isn’t an everyday thing, and I don’t expect to repeat this next year, but when it happens, and the community comes together, it is a beautiful thing.”
HHHSF board chair David Blodgett confirmed more than 600 people have donated to the campaign to date. As well as the big-ticket items, the summer fundraiser is supporting upgrades to ultrasound equipment and image archiving systems (PACS).
“Thank you to every one of you,” Blodgett said. “Every donation gets us closer to the diagnostic imaging equipment HHHS so urgently needs.” To donate, visit hhhs.ca/foundation or call 705-457-1580.
