The West River Health Services Foundation has re-upped its membership with the Impact Foundation, so they will be out in “red” once again for their Annual “Giving Hearts Day” fundraising efforts on February 13th, 2020. Giving Hearts Day is the single largest online giving day in North Dakota, raising over $88 million over the last thirteen years.
Last year, West River Foundation joined 450 other nonprofit organizations for Giving Hearts Day, and worked toward their quest to bring more TOP DOCS to our backyard in Western Dakota. The fun “Giving Hearts Nights With the NightHawks” events in Hettinger and Scranton and the “Kennedy’s Promotion” were well received and supported by the area communities. It was a record day for Giving Hearts Day overall ($17.1 million raised) and for West River Foundation, raising over $158,000 for West River Health Services, with most of the gifts earmarked toward the new Physician Recruitment Endowment Fund ($135,000 raised to date).
The overall goal for this new Physician Recruitment Endowment Fund is $400,000; so at 5% interest, $20,000 can be utilized each year going forward. What we thought might take eight years at $50,000 raised per year, now looks like we could possibly reach our $400K goal in 3-4 years. The plan for these endowment funds is for future to-notch physician signing bonuses, forgiveness of physician student loans, or for our new “Ambassador Program,” where we fly in our more experienced and/or retired physicians to visit with Resident Physicians about pursuing a career in medicine with West River. After all, we need more young families to come live in our area communities in Western Dakota. And we definitely need more TOP DOCS! How can we provide top-notch healthcare “close to home,” without top-notch physicians meeting with our patients on the front lines?
There are plans for an initial “Giving Hearts Day Action TEAM Gathering” on Wednesday, October 16th, 6:30pm at the WRHS Board Room. Anyone and everyone is invited to attend. Currently we have a chairman (Ted Uecker) and two Captains (Dr. John Kludt and Kim Schalesky). We are looking for 1-3 more captains and potentially 3-5 ambassadors to work with each captain. These volunteer positions will not require a huge amount of time, but will surely make a difference in our ability to reach our local healthcare goals.
If you have any questions about West River Health Services Foundation or their efforts for their 2nd Annual Giving Hearts Day, please call Ted Uecker at 701-567-3666. Together we can enhance our mission to provide fundraising and development services for West River Health Services and Western Horizons Living Centers as they provide comprehensive health and wellness services to the residents and visitors of our region. Onward! Ted Uecker, WRHS Foundation