February 27, 2012
MIX 106.5 to kick off radio benefit for the kids at Johns Hopkins
Broadcast celebrates 100th anniversary of Children’s Center, and new beginning
The MIX 106.5 Radiothon benefiting Johns Hopkins Children’s Center will begin its 23rd annual broadcast at 6 a.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 29, and conclude at 8 p.m. on Friday, March 2. The official 10 a.m. kickoff will feature the MIX 106.5 morning show team, center director George Dover, pediatric neurosurgeon Ben Carson, patients and families, and a group of Star Wars characters.
In its 22 years, the event has raised nearly $14 million for Hopkins Children’s.
“Year after year, our friends at MIX bring to listeners the unforgettable stories of our patients and the doctors, nurses and staff who care for them,” Dover said. “From the baby with a mysterious seizure, to the 3-year-old battling both cancer and heart disease, to the courageous little girl who underwent multiple reconstructive surgeries for a devastating birth defect—all these patients and hundreds like them have benefited in one way or another from the items and programs we have been able to provide through the generous donations of MIX listeners and the community.”
This year’s broadcast marks two milestones: the 100th anniversary of Johns Hopkins Children’s Center and the opening of its new home.
“A century ago, Harriet Lane Johnston, who lost both her sons to rheumatic fever, bequeathed money to start a children’s hospital here at Johns Hopkins, the Harriet Lane Home for Invalid Children—the predecessor to today’s Johns Hopkins Children’s Center,” Dover said. “Just like her donation, [others’] donations—no matter how small or big—can help change our patients’ worlds, whether it’s by buying books and DVDs to distract a child from the doldrums of hospital life or lifesaving equipment for our most critically ill patients.”
This year also heralds the beginning of a new era for Hopkins Children’s, with the opening of The Charlotte R. Bloomberg Children’s Center on April 29.
“Our new home will allow us to continue to do what we do best: Change pediatrics, one child at a time,” Dover said. “And the Bloomberg Children’s Center is an example of how far generous donations can go. More than one-third of the funding for our new home came from philanthropic support.”
The three-day broadcast will include interviews with patients, nurses, physicians and staff, and their stories of survival and loss, heartbreak and hope, the brave promise of science and the dramatic twists and turns of life in the hospital.
The MIX 106.5 Radiothon is part of the ongoing Caring for Kids multimedia campaign to benefit the hospital’s patients and their families. Another component is the annual WMAR-TV special, which will air this year at 8 p.m. on Friday, March 2, and 7 a.m. on Saturday, March 3.
To listen to the Radiothon broadcast online, go to player.radio.com/player/RadioPlayer.php?version=1.2.13507&station=102.