Members of the Almonte Civitan Club proudly presented the Almonte General Hospital Fairview Manor Foundation with $5,000 on Monday, May 8, at the beginning of their monthly meeting.
President Ross Munro called the meeting to order at 7 p.m. and, after the 50-plus members recited the Civitan Creed, Munro asked Al Roberts, Managing Director of the AGH FVM Foundation, to accept the funds raised through the Lake 88.1 Civitan Radio bingo program.
Roberts spoke about the club’s generous support of the community, including the Hospital and Manor, and how important these funds are to the success of the $3.2 million campaign to bring a CT to Almonte. Civitan has now contributed more than $10,000 to the CT campaign.
“Raising $3.2 million is like eating an elephant,” said Roberts. “If you think of the whole thing, you’ll be afraid you’d never get it all done. But by going one bite at a time, it seems possible. Each and every bite, like these Radio bingo funds, has helped get us to $2.5 million of the $3.2 we need.”
Roberts went on to share that the CT project is underway at the Hospital with senior staff looking at selecting the winning supplier. It is hoped that renovations and installation will start this fall and the first CT scans will take place in late summer/early fall of 2024. The Foundation continues to be focused on raising the remaining $700,000 required to completely pay for the project.
Almonte Civitan got involved with Civitan Radio Bingo in May 2022.
For those not familiar with how this Bingo is played on radio: Lake 88.1 FM broadcasts four games every Tuesday evening beginning at 6:10 p.m. Players buy their bingo sheets for $10 (a sheet contains six cards) from various locations throughout the region. Depending on where cards are sold, the revenue goes to one of five Civitan clubs. Cards bought from Levis Home Hardware, Jonsson’s Independent Grocery Store, Baker Bob’s, the Almonte Legion or the AGH Gift Shop, all benefit the Almonte Civitan Club. The announcer calls out the numbers at a leisurely pace and when a player has a bingo, they call the phone number listed on the back of the bingo sheet. Lots of time is given to check the numbers and ensure a winner. Prizes vary between $200 up to a $1,000. For those who don’t get a clear Lake 88.1 radio signal, it is also available on your computer, tablet or phone by searching: Lake 88.1 listen live.
“The funds presented to the Hospital Foundation are the result of between 35-45 regular players participating each week for the past year,” said Munro. “Can you imagine how much we would raise if more people played from Almonte and the Mississippi Mills area?”
Munro went on to say how amongst the regular players, he’s heard of grandparents playing with their grandchildren, and friends and neighbours making a weekly get-together out of it. Everyone says it’s really is fun.
He also added, “Where there is a need, Almonte Civitan try to assist and right now every one of us identifies the need for a CT Scanner in this community.” Many years ago, Civitan’s slogan was ‘People Helping People’, and Almonte Civitan still believes in helping our friends and neighbours.”
For more information visit: https://www.almontecivitan.com/events/radio-bingo/
More information about the CT campaign is available at: https://almontehospitalfoundation.com/your-hospital/
