WakeMed Foundation Celebrates Banner Year
01/15/2007
RALEIGH, N.C. � The WakeMed Foundation recently celebrated a banner fundraising year. Significant accomplishments for 2006 include earning a landmark $1.2 million in the Annual Fund and breaking the $10 million mark in total net assets. Also contributing to the Foundation�s success is more than $3.8 million raised for its ongoing capital and endowment campaign.
WakeMed Foundation�s successful year is due to a combination of new, unique events, a solid fundraising history and dedicated volunteers,� commented Kevin McCarthy, executive director, WakeMed Foundation and vice president of development. The money raised this year will help us expand support of new programs and services within WakeMed and provide needed capital dollars and endowment support.�
Notable new events in 2006 included:
The Crystal Ball, held on April 28 at Prestonwood Country Club in Cary, was a celebration of WakeMed Cary Hospital�s fifteenth anniversary. The inaugural event raised nearly $175,000 with proceeds benefiting expansion and renovations at Cary Hospital. Over 300 Foundation donors and friends attended.
The WakeMed � RBC Centura Golf Classic, also in its inaugural year, raised over $55,000. Raleigh Country Club hosted the tournament on July 31, with over 110 golfers in team competition.
Ribbon Trees at Cary Hospital and North Healthplex raised funds to support breast health awareness throughout the month of October. Donors made contributions in memory or in honor of family, friends and loved ones.
These events are essential to raise awareness and forge new friendships for the Foundation. The success of these events represents the ongoing efforts of our Board members, Campaign Cabinet members, WakeMed Champions and other volunteers,� commented Brenda Gibson, chair, WakeMed Foundation Board. These supporters are personally delivering the Foundation�s message to the community and telling the WakeMed story. This story signifies the important need to make an investment in our community�s health care through generous philanthropic support of WakeMed.�
This year a portion of the Annual Fund dollars raised has been dedicated to supporting WakeMed�s Mobile Critical Care Services. As Wake County�s only Level I Trauma Center, WakeMed transports thousands of adult and pediatric patients from facilities throughout our region each month. Expanding the fleet of mobile units allows WakeMed to transfer a greater number of critical patients more quickly in cases where every minute counts.
Money earned by the WakeMed Foundation is also used for departmental grants and employee skills development not covered by continuing education or tuition reimbursement programs. For example, the WakeMed Foundation has funded a Spanish language immersion project for the past three years where employees actually visit a Spanish-speaking country for several weeks to better master the language. The project supports WakeMed�s ongoing effort to support and train bilingual employees and to better communicate with Spanish-speaking visitors and patients. Additionally, the Foundation donated the money to purchase a quad rugby chair for use in the recently formed quad rugby team. This donation further allowed WakeMed Rehab to collaborate with the North Carolina Spinal Cord Association and the Raleigh Rugby Club.
The goals of the Foundation�s ongoing capital and endowment campaign are to provide additional financial resources for WakeMed�s well-known centers of excellence: Heart Center, Trauma and Emergency Services, Rehab, Cary Hospital and Pediatrics. Due to the rapid growth of the Triangle region, WakeMed will invest significant dollars to expand the system�s facilities, delivering health care services to all areas of the community. Furthermore, considerable dollars are needed to purchase new medical equipment to provide the best in health care technology.
