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Run for Southlake helps upgrade operating room equipment

The 17th annual event on Sunday, April 28 aims to surpass last year's fundraising achievement of $330,000, foundation CEO says

The countdown is on to organize yourself or your team — and your cheering section — for Southlake Regional Health Centre Foundation's largest annual fundraiser, the Nature’s Emporium Run for Southlake.

The 17th annual event kicks off at 8: 15 a.m. Sunday, April 28 with opening ceremonies and an awards presentation to the top team fundraisers, rain or shine.

Following the formalities, upward of about 1,800 runners and walkers will make their dash at the starting line at 8:50 a.m. The race begins at 9 a.m. and is expected to take about one hour, with closing ceremonies scheduled for about 10:15 a.m.

Davis Drive will be closed east and west of the Newmarket Seniors’ Meeting Place, 474 Davis Dr, which acts as the start/finish line, from Barbara Avenue to Huron Heights Drive. Participants take over the roadway as they run, walk or jog the 5-kilometre challenge.

Registration is going well and organizers say they are close to the 1,500 registrants who participated in the 2018 race. This year, the Southlake Foundation has added increased security measures along the route to allow space for 1,800.

“We’re getting close. Last year about this same time, we had about 200 to 300 last-minute registrants sign up and we’d love to say again this year that we sold out at 1,800,” Southlake foundation president and chief executive Susan Mullin said.

The foundation is the fundraising arm of the local hospital, which has in recent years seen an increased demand for its services as the catchment communities that it serves continue to grow in population, including Newmarket, Aurora, East Gwillimbury and Bradford West Gwillimbury, King Township, Georgina and more. Its renowned regional cardiac care unit also draws patients far from Newmarket’s borders.

Mullin said about $330,000 was raised by participants during the 2018 race and the fundraising team would like to break through that achievement with this month’s event.

“Fundraising is going great,” Mullin said. “We’re en route. It’s a pledge event and people tend to wait until the last minute. We see most of the fundraising from online giving happening in the last couple of weeks, so we hope people get together with their families over the Easter weekend and make sure they’re all supporting them.”

Online giving has become a convenient and easy way for people to reach out to their network for peer-to-peer fundraising, Mullin added.

“I have friends as far away as Iqaluit, Nunavut supporting me in the run because they know the cause and not necessarily that they use the hospital,” she said.

So far, $69,069 has been raised by individuals and teams, according to the Run for Southlake website.

Team Kimmy, captained by Zach Ferry and formed in honour of his mother, Kimmy, who passed away after two weeks at Southlake's intensive care unit, will participate in the race for the second year.

“It’s the worst time your family is going through, and they’re there for you," he said. "We were there for two weeks, and the nurses formed bonds with me and the family, and Mum, too. When she passed, you could see the emotion on their faces. And so you have the support of your family and friends in the room, but there’s also that extra layer of support, and they’re sad, too. That’s what sticks with me about Southlake.” 

Ferry said he and his team jumped at the chance to give back to the hospital again because of the compassionate and high-quality critical care that was provided to his mother.

“You’re running and you feel your Mum with you, and you also know that by participating you’re helping another family who might be in the same situation,” Ferry said.

Team Kimmy was the top fundraising team in 2018 in the Community Friends and Family team challenge category. So far this year, the team has secured fundraising pledges to the tune of $2,675.

“It was a great way of bringing people together when what you need in that situation most is support," he added. "There’s so many people there for the same reason, it’s a really powerful thing.”

Funds raised by the community last year are continuing to make an impact at Southlake hospital, Mullin said. For example, 12 ventilators were purchased for the hospital’s emergency and intensive care rooms.

“What the community may not realize is that our government support for the hospital doesn’t fund all of the basics, from things like new hospital beds to IV poles,” Mullin said.

Residents are more familiar with major equipment purchases and the fundraising that makes that happen, she added, such as the MRI machine donors helped purchase for Southlake in 2018.

Proceeds from the Southlake Foundation’s April 28 run will continue to help it fund upgraded equipment for the hospital’s operating rooms.

“We’re continuing to do some work on our operating rooms and surgical suites and, thanks to the community, we’ve upgraded the operating room lights,” Mullin said. “It sounds small, but it’s a huge deal in the rooms, and now we’re moving on to more of the in-room equipment, things like special operating room tables for people who are getting hip and knee replacements so that the surgeon can position patients just right, with minimal stress on them, and that will also be better for the doctor who’s having to bend and shift.”

The operating rooms are identified as a key priority for 2019, Mullin said, because they are “the heart of a community” and get a lot of use.

“People invest in their hospital so it’s there for their friends, family and neighbours, and they hope they don’t need it,” Mullin said. “But the reality is, for a hospital like Southlake, ultimately, it touches everybody in the community, from birth to a cancer diagnosis and a broken leg at a soccer game. It really is across the board.”

The 17th annual Nature’s Emporium Run for Southlake takes place Sunday, April 28 from 8 a.m. to about 10:15 a.m. It’s on rain or shine and starts and ends at the Newmarket Seniors’ Meeting Place, 474 Davis Dr.

For more information and to register, visit here.

Kim Champion

About the Author: Kim Champion

Kim Champion is a veteran journalist and editor who covers Newmarket and issues that impact York Region.
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