Costco Wholesale

Costco Wholesale Lethbridge has been an excellent friend to the CRH Foundation since 1994. In that time, Costco has raised over $300,000 to support health care in this community. This year is no exception as Costco once again supports the Telethon through the annual Toonie at the Till campaign and Telethon raffles.

When you go through the till at Costco throughout the month of April and May, you'll be asked if you'd like to donate a toonie to the Care From the Heart Telethon. You'll be able to sign your name on a paper heart which will be added to the hundreds on the Costco wall.

Costco also supports the Telethon through two different raffles. The prizes available are below. Raffle tickets are available at Costco and at the CRH Foundation. A signed Hurricanes 3rd Jersey is also available for silent auction.

Care From the Heart Raffle #1
1st Prize: ViewSonic 42" TV (valued at $1,154.99)
2nd Prize: NexGrill (valued at $462.00)
3rd Prize: Costco Cash Card (valued at $400)
Draw Date: Sunday, June 1, 2008 at Costco Wholesale
Tickets: $2 each 5,000 tickets printed

The Auxiliary to the Hospital again organized the annual Easter Basket Raffle to support the Telethon. The ladies filled three beautiful Easter baskets with delightful items to create a Gourmet Food Basket, a Children's Basket and a Bath and Beauty Basket. The lucky winners were drawn on March 20, 2008.

All raffle proceeds will be donated toward the Telethon on April 27. The raffle proceeds accompany the Auxiliary Lights of Hope donation which raised an impressive $133,817 this year. Many thanks goes to the dedicated ladies of the Auxiliary for organizing both of these fundraisers on the Foundation's behalf.

The Wesbridge Construction Tween Ringette Team has pledged $2,000 to this year's Care from the Heart Telethon - and they've issued a challenge to all area sports teams to do the same with a pledge of their own. The Tween Ringette Team will attend the Telethon on Sunday, April 27 to present their donation and issue their personal challenge live on air.

This is the Fourth year The Lynx have supported the Telethon. The team came up with the idea to support the Telethon in part because proceeds were being used to upgrade the Emergency Department's vital signs monitoring equipment, a medical service that's vital to all sports teams.

"Having the very best care with the best medical equipment is important to everyone in southern Alberta," says Lyal Sakamoto of Wesbridge, whose daughter Lisa is on the team. "It's terrific for these young children to think in such a community-minded way. At Wesbridge, it's our pleasure to get behind them in this great cause and we hope many teams will accept the girl's challenge."

The 2008 Runners Soul Moonlight Run, the popular late night run/walk through the Lethbridge River Valley is organized by Runners Soul and a dedicated team of volunteers. The March 24 event was the 21st annual run that has raised over $70,000 for medical equipment and programs at the Chinook Regional Hospital. Read all about the run details and winners at www.moonlightrun.com

The event features a 6k run/walk and a 10k run. The surreal ambiance of a moonlight night in addition to the cash prizes, medals, great food, fun and camaraderie are trademarks of the Moonlight Run.

Local Artist Htut Soe Ye has launched a new website to promote his unique Harley-inspired model motorbikes that raise funds for the CRH Foundation.

Htut has had his bikes on display in the CRH Atrium for the last two years. At the present time, the CRH Foundation is the only outlet for the motorcycle models. The website, at www.htutsmotorcycles.ca, will help promote the bikes to a wider audience.

Each of his models is meticulously sculpted by hand to resemble today’s motorcycle. The only materials used are soft aluminum wire, rubber tubing for the tires, hand dyed plastic tubing and a minimal number of plastic decorative additions. Each model is 18 inches (46 cm.) long by 8 inches (20 cm.) high by 6 inches (15 cm.) wide at the handlebars.

Htut, formerly from Myanmar (originally called Burma) wanted to contribute to his former homeland as well as his new country. The bikes sell for $85 and for each model sold, a certain percentage is donated by Htut’s Model Motorcycles to the CRH Foundation to help purchase essential medical equipment.

A second project that benefits from Htut's generosity is a school for underprivileged children in Myanmar. Any further profits are being used to fund a rural school in Myanmar. The school is run by retired volunteer educators who provide for the education of many young children who would otherwise not be able to get an education through state run primary or secondary education programs.