The Catskill Chronicle

Story and photos by Carol Montana

HARRIS, NY (February 26, 2012) – A new social media presence and a dedicated group of volunteers and donors allowed the 2012 WVOS/WSUL Heart-a-thon to raise an astounding $65,068 on  Saturday. One hundred percent of the proceeds will be donated to Catskill Regional Medical Center (CRMC).

Helena Manzione, General Manager of WSUL/WVOS has worked on at least 22 Heart-a-thons, and she tries not to set a goal (except for the one in her heart), because of all the variables in Sullivan County. But each and every year, the people come through, and this was no exception. “I’m very grateful to people who donate for whatever they can do,” says Manzione.

This year, the social media presence was ramped up thanks to first-time co-chairs Roberta Byron-Lockwood and Paul Carlucci, President and Chairman respectively for the Sullivan County Visitors Association, which donated its website for online donations. In addition, the Heart-a-thon celebrated its second year on Facebook and took advantage of other social media.

Manzione also reached out to the many Sullivan County snowbirds by taking out an ad in the Sullivan County Democrat, telling them they “could listen and donate and still feel connected.”

Joining Byron-Lockwood and Carlucci was longtime co-chair Alan Kesten, owner of Yellow Cab, who not only reached out to the business community, but, according to Byron-Lockwood, has an amazing connection with the area fire departments.

The committee is “well-oiled machine” according to Byron-Lockwood. “They have such dedicated members, and we shared all the ideas we could possibly do to encourage our residents to support the hospital. … It was a lot of work, but a lot of fun work, we got to make some great new friendships. You get to see how each and every community is dedicated to the hospital and how important it is to us for our guests and our visitors to make sure we have a fabulous hospital.”

Carlucci, Vice President of the Villa Roma Resort said the hotel has had great success “selling hearts to our guests, our staff and to our second homeowners. … Most of our visitors are repeat visitors, I could tell them stories about how effective the hospital has been with certain guests that have experienced problems while staying at the Villa Roma, I think they appreciate that. As far as second homeowners, I try to stress to them that even as part-time members of the Sullivan County community, they really have a stake in the hospital being as good as it possibly can be. I was amazed at the generosity.”

As far as where the money goes, J.P. McGuirk, Director of Marketing and Public Relations at CRMC, said the the Heart-a-thon did such a great job in the past with raising money for telemetry equipment for the second floor, “we’re going to get telemetry equipment for the fifth floor. It’s a very much needed piece of equipment, basically wireless monitoring at the bedside, and a really great asset for the hospital. We’re very appreciative that WSUL and WVOS does this.”

McGuirk said that by piggy-backing the donations from the Heart-a-thon with the proceeds from the annual golf outing held the first week in August, CRMC will be able to equip the entire fifth floor with the wireless monitors.

You can still contribute to the Heart-a-thon by sending a check or money order made payable to: WVOS/WSUL Heart-a-thon, Box 628, Monticello, NY 12701, or by visiting https://www.scva.net/heart-a-thon-2012/.

To see more photos or to order prints from the 2012 Heart-a-thon, visit The Catskill Chronicle on Zenfolio.