Q Country 91.5 and 94.7 Star FM’s ‘Critical Care On The Air Radiothon For Stars Air Ambulance’ has, so far, raised $62,705 dollars towards staffing costs and the purchase of equipment and fuel.
Stars Director of Development Colleen Mayer says they’re grateful for your donations, and assures you every dollar raised in Manitoba, stays in Manitoba. She says the money raised will help purchase “every piece of equipment that goes into the helicopter from oxygen to night vision goggles…and will also pay for staff training.”
Mayer says it costs Stars Air Ambulance about $10.5-million to run their Winnipeg base, and they’re very fortunate to have a government, corporate and private funding model in place. She says “the dollars that come in from the public really help us remain on the cutting edge of innovation and help us obtain all the things we need.”
Stars has been seeing an increase in calls as more Manitobans are moving around the province, since pandemic restrictions were lifted, and this includes more scene calls and inter-facility transfers. Mayer says “the service is so important, that I often say I hope you never need us, but I’m sure glad we’re here when you do.”
To everyone who made a donation on Friday’s ‘Radiothon’ and through the weekend, Mayer says “From all of us at Stars Air Ambulance, Thank-you from the bottom of our hearts for making this radiothon such a success. I can’t thank our sponsors and you guys (at Q Country & Star FM) enough for helping us get that message out there. Really, it takes all of us together to do this and we’re happy to ride along with all of you.”
Mayer says you can still donate until Wednesday, June 8th at http://support.stars.ca/site/TR?fr_id=2010&pg=entry – or text STARS to 45678 to make a $25 donation.