The 6th Annual Radiothon for Life is now over and can be considered nothing short of a great success. The 12 hour fundraiser began at 6 am with Sun 102 and CJ 1150 kicking off the event on the radio. Donations quickly started rolling in when a call came in to the Access Communications Pledge line with a family member of the late Dean Allen. His estate donated $50,000 to the Hospital Foundation in his memory. 

Other residents of the Estevan area also visited St. Joseph's Hospital wanting to make donations. Many of whom either personally affected by the hospital or had family members use the services. One of whom was Anita Lowey, who came by with her father to make a donation. Lowey, a maternity nurse for 35 years, sees the need for all the services the hospital provides. She shared that her mother is currently being cared for here and her father also uses many of the local services which saves them both many hours of travelling. She added that she has also seen how the equipment is needed to maintain the services of the maternity ward. 

"Estevan is one of the only hospitals in this area that does deliveries. Weyburn has no services for that and all the smaller communities come here. So it's very important that we get the funds to maintain the fetal monitors and the nursery."

The day continued with a BBQ lunch which raised over $4000. There was over 400 hamburgers served which prompted an emergency run to pick up more. Those attending the lunch were also treated to a visit from the Emergency Services units who displayed their vehicles and equipment in the hospital parking lot. 

As the afternoon wound down, the push began in effort to reach the $95,000 mark. With only minutes left before the deadline, an anonymous donor called in wanting to match the funds that had been raised so far. With that donation, the grand total came to $191,879.  

Becky Conly, the Executive Director for the St Joseph's Hospital Foundation is grateful to everyone who made the day such a success. 

"We want to thank everyone who came out to help. We'd like to thank Access Communications, Golden West Radio, all of the volunteers, including the emergency services volunteers who helped out with the BBQ. And of course, the donors from all over southeast Saskatchewan who came together to make this an unprecedented day for the St. Joseph's Foundation. Never before in the six years have we seen a total like this. There's a lot of emotions running through here." 

Greg Hoffart, CEO for the hospital, was overwhelmed by results of the day. 

"It's something we never knew and we should never take for granted - the generosity of our community. It makes everything tick here in Estevan. It's hard to put into words. Thank you to everyone for coming through so enormously. This has been by far, the largest day, and it will make such a difference in the lives we serve here at the hospital."

More photos and videos to come.

READ MORE: CJ BLOG: Radio for Life Recap

READ MORE: 2017 Radiothon: An Unprecedented Success

READ MORE: BBQ Raises Money for Radiothon

READ MORE: Local Residents Share their Stories at Radiothon for Life

READ MORE: Significant Donation Bumps Up Total