Little Wagons and Big Checks Roll Into Children��s Miracle Network Hospitals

The wagons are rolling.

Nine Radio Flyer wagons full of toys for sick children and checks for the people who are working to make them well are now on their way to Children��s Miracle Network Hospitals throughout the Northwest, thanks to Credit Unions for Kids and the Northwest Credit Union Association��s Boardwalk of Miracles auction.

That auction, held in October during the NWCUA��s Amplify convention in Portland, raised $158,100 for the region��s six network hospitals, including a $25,000 grant from CO-OP Financial Services�� Miracle Match program. The wagons �� a popular Credit Unions for Kids tradition in the Northwest �� raised $49,000 of that total, with bids from 14 different credit unions.

��The success of the evening is a tribute to the generosity, care and compassion that Northwest credit unions have for Credit Unions for Kids,�� said Shelly Berryman, the NWCUA��s vice president for member engagement and advocacy, who coordinated the auction. ��Selling nine wagons was a record, and it allowed us to touch so many lives in such a positive way.��

The first wagon �� and a check for $19,582 -- rolled into CMN Hospitals of the Inland Northwest in Spokane on Nov. 22. Global Credit Union, Horizon Credit Union, Numerica Credit Union, PrimeSource Credit Union and STCU joined hands to sponsor the wagon. (Bids on donated items for the live and silent Boardwalk of Miracles auction added to the final amount.)

Later that day, Rogue Credit Union delivered its wagon and a check for $21,782 to Rogue Valley Medical Center in Medford.

And on Monday, four wagons were delivered to Doernbecher Children��s Hospital in Portland, thanks to bids from Advantis Credit Union, First Tech Federal Credit Union, iQ Credit Union and OnPoint Community Credit Union. Representatives from all four credit unions were on hand to present Doernbecher with a check for $55,767, which also includes proceeds from the live and silent auctions.

Ashley Schmidt, Doernbecher��s associate director of development, said many of the toys will be used as prizes in the hospital��s popular bingo games for young patients. Even children too sick to leave their hospital beds can play on the televisions in their rooms, she said, and then phone in their ��Bingo!��

As parents and children used red wagons to cart gear �� and sometimes siblings �� through the halls, Schmidt thanked credit unions for playing a major role in Doernbecher��s development and in the lives of its patients. Evidence of that role were everywhere: the Tom Sargent Children��s Safety Center in the lobby is named after First Tech Federal��s longtime president and CEO; the outpatient clinics are named after Credit Unions for Kids; and a much-needed expansion of the pediatric intensive care unit was possible only because of credit unions�� generosity.

Next up:

• Oregon Community Credit Union��s wagon for Sacred Heart Medical Center in Eugene, which will receive a total donation of $19,572;
• Peninsula Credit Union and Unitus Community Credit Union��s wagon for Seattle Children��s Hospital, which will receive $19,800; and
• Solarity Credit Union��s wagon for Yakima Valley Memorial Hospital in Yakima, which will receive $21,597.

Berryman says all of the wagons will be delivered by the end of the year.

Northwest credit unions started the Credit Unions for Kids program in 1986. Now credit unions�� national charity of choice, it has raised more than $110 million for the 170 hospitals in the Children��s Miracle Network, including $12 million in the Northwest alone for the region��s six network hospitals.