Montreal Children's Hospital Foundation Radiothon Today

No matter where you live, chances are you must have heard - at one time or another - a radiothon to help raise funds for a local children's charity, hospital or healthcare facility. Today, it is the turn of the Montreal Children's Hospital Foundation, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Montreal is very fortunate to have not one, but two world-class stand-alone hospitals for children: CHU Sainte-Justine and the Montreal Children's Hospital. Both are excellent facilities that have saved thousands of children's lives and have helped families of those whose children cannot be saved.

As with most healthcare facilities, the MCH has a foundation that helps raise funds for the things that aren't provided for in the operating budget. These items range from state-of-the-art equipment to art supplies for the patients. Music therapy is funded by the foundation, as is so much more - all things to help the patients get better, if possible, and to make them feel as normal as possible - like children should feel.

So, why am I blogging about this here? Because as a writer, I play a small role in this radiothon. I was hired last year and again this year to help coordinate the appointments with the parents and to interview them to get an idea of what the MCH has meant to them. You see, when the radio hosts speak to the parents and/or child, they need to have a script of some sort, something that tells them why these people are sitting in front of them and a guide of what to ask them.

When people think of writing, they often think of writing articles or books, or - now with the Internet, writing for websites or blogs. But there are so many more opportunities to write, such as this one. Being a nurse helps tremendously with a task like this. As the parents speak with me, I know what they mean in their terminology, they don't have to explain everything. As a nurse, I can also identify with their hospital experiences, and as a mom, I can identify with the fear that a parent has when they have a sick child. While I have been very fortunate not to have any serious things happen to my family, I do know what it is like to worry when you hand over a child to a surgeon or your child is being tested for some unknown illness. It is truly frightening.

Some of the stories people will hear are heart breaking. Not all children survive their illnesses. Some are very frightening, no 5-week-old should be diagnosed with cancer. And some are inspiring, as parents and children relate their fight against illness and their successes.

If you would like to listen, the radiothon can be heard on the Montreal Astral Media radio stations, CJAD, CHOM-FM, and Virgin Radio. I would recommend listening to CJAD's feed because that is a talk radio station and they will be featuring more stories than the two FM music stations.

I'm honoured that my skills have allowed me to work on this project. I am such a lucky, lucky person.