One of Donegal’s best-known charities has launched its biggest campaign to raise almost €500,000 for Letterkenny General Hospital.
The ambitious goal of The Friends of Letterkenny General Hospital is to raise “€21,000 every 21 days” in 2013.
Now organisers want the entire community to get behind the project which kicks off on Monday 21st January at 7.30pm in the Conference Room, Floor A, Letterkenny General Hospital.
“The aim of our fundraising launch on Monday 21st January is twofold, firstly to highlight the importance of the Friends to the hospital and the benefits it brings to the people of the North West and secondly to ask as many clubs, organisations and individuals to help us to raise €21,000 every 21days in 2013” said Brian McGarvey, Chairperson of the FOLGH.
In 2013 the Friends are celebrating 21 years of successful fundraising activities during which time over €5 million was raised by the people of the North West for the people of the North West.
The Friends are planning numerous events throughout 2013 to celebrate the 21 years of fundraising including a massive Celebration Ball of which the final details will be released in the coming weeks.
“The success of the fundraising of the past 21 years is dependent on the help and support of the people of the North West and we want to build on that success in 2013 and beyond” enthused Mr McGarvey.
“The long list of equipment purchased by the Friends for the hospital that has helped provide better healthcare for the people of the North West is truly inspiring and we want to continue this fine tradition for the next 21 years.
“We again need the help and support of the people of the North West to fundraise with us and to organise events in their area from Cake Sales to Cycles, Tractor Runs to Table Quizzes, Golf Classics to Gala Nights and Beard Shaves to Bingo…basically any fundraising event. We are trying a new initiative this year by asking groups, organisations, clubs, businesses and any other interested individuals to “partner up” with the Friends in their fundraising activities.”
The Friends of Letterkenny General Hospital was established in 1992 and attracted ordinary people from all corners of the North West to help raise the vital funds necessary and oragnisers want to re-establish these links and indeed make new links throughout the North West.
The people of the North West benefit greatly from the equipment purchased and the services enhanced by the Friends fundraising and the Oncology Bus is a prime example.
The original Oncology Bus was purchased in 2001 to transport patients to cancer treatment hospitals in Dublin such as St.Lukes in Rathgar.
The bus was fitted with upgraded seats and tables with a toilet on board which helped to make the journey to and from Dublin more comfortable and many long standing friendships were formed on this twice weekly bus trip.
The huge benefit of the Oncology Bus is that it stops as often as the patients require and there is no hurry on the tea break stop.
In 2010 The Friends purchased a vital piece of radiology equipment called a SAN (Storage Area Network). This technology allows clinical staff to view CT & MRI scans and X-ray images on their computer screens in a much quicker manner than the old disc system allowed.
Whilst this technology allows much faster access to radiology images, it was made necessary by the introduction of the new 64 Slice CT scanner that year. The new CT generates so many detailed images that the old system would have been incapable of coping with the volume of data and without the Friends support for this new technology, treatment of patients would be significantly slower. This was one of the many advances that has allowed Letterkeny General Hospital to develop state of the art diagnostic imaging for the people of Donegal.
The Friends of Letterkenny General Hospital are formally launching their fundraising campaign “€21,000 every 21 days” on Monday 21st January at 7.30pm in the Conference Room, Floor A, Letterkenny General Hospital. Everyone is invited to attend.
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