A little more than five months after she first made a plea to area business and people to donate money to buy equipment for the hospital, McKenna Causey is making some headway.
The 18-year-old Red Deer College student was given $150 from the Royal Bank of Canada through its Make 150 Count campaign. The bank wanted to give the money to young people making a positive impact in their communities.
So far she has raised more than $7,000.
“I’m really thankful for quite a few people who went out of their way to help me and to get other people to help donate,” said Causey, of Blackfalds.
Causey wants to turn the money into a much larger donation, by challenging business or people to match the donation RBC made.
She wants the money to go towards purchasing phototherapy equipment for the Red Deer Regional Hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit. At the beginning she set out with a goal to raise more than $22,000, which would be enough to donate two sets of the equipment to the hospital.
Causey has made pitches to the Red Deer Doula Society and the Red Deer Rotary Club to raise the money.
“It means so much to me,” said Causey. “A lot of people helped out at first, and I’m so thankful for it.”
Though she hasn’t quite reached her goal, she hasn’t given up hope she can make a difference.
At first Causey wanted to fundraise to buy incubators, but the hospital had recently received several incubators. After some discussions with hospital staff, phototherapy equipment was settled on. It helps get rid of jaundice in new babies.
To donate email make150countcampaign@gmail.com, or call Causey at 587-876-0429. For more information visit www.make150count.weebly.com or the Make 150 Count Campaign Facebook Page.
mcrawford@reddeeradvocate.com
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter