On a cool, cloudy day, from the chilly hours of the early morning to the greyness of the early evening, donations came in via phone, online, and in-person for the Golden West Radio Radiothon for Life in support of the St. Joseph's Hospital Foundation. By the time the day was done, Estevan and the area's generosity shone through yet again.

Despite the looming presence of COVID-19 on people's finances, southeast Saskatchewan came together to make this one of the most successful Radiothons ever. All told, donations climbed to $101,040.

"It feels amazing," said Breanne Van De Woestyne, executive director of the SJFH. "This community just never ceases to amaze us here at the foundation and our hospital. So we are so grateful for every single donation big or small that came in today. And again, it completely exceeded our expectations. We're so excited to support our addictions centre and our hospital."  

The total could be seen to climb steadily throughout the day, having already jumped over $20,000 by 8:00 AM. But as has so often been the case in Estevan, it was the latter hours of the day that saw the big jumps, with the total climbing from over $70,000 at 4:00 to over $90,000 around 5:00. When the clock struck six, the total read the jaw-dropping amount. 

"There were a lot of obstacles that we had to overcome, obviously, with COVID-19 and all the restrictions that came into place," Van De Woestyne said, "postponing it multiple times. It all came together really well. The community stood behind us and the radio station was great to work with so it's overall just a great success."

All the money raised by this year's Radiothon for Life went towards the new addiction treatment centre at the hospital. Though the provincial government helped kickstart the project, the SJHF will be responsible for much of the equipment that ultimately goes in the building. 

Every year, the SJHF has a capital wishlist of about $400,000 of necessary equipment for the hospital. With that in mind, Estevan and southeast Saskatchewan took care of about a quarter of that equipment in a single day. 

"It's incredible," said Van De Woestyne. "The community here in southeast Saskatchewan is amazing and they all seem to understand the importance of local healthcare in our little town in Estevan. We're so excited. We're always amazed by the support we get and this is no exception."