UNM Children’s Hospital’s Month of Miracles and Annual Radiothon

UNM Children’s Hospital’s largest annual event is returning to the New Mexico airwaves.

The Children’s Miracle Network at UNM Children’s Hospital is thrilled to announce 100.3 The Peak’s Annual Radiothon, sponsored by Dion’s, will air Friday, Feb. 26 from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. In 2020, 100.3 the Peak’s Radiothon presented by Dion’s raised $220,220 during the two-day event.

This year’s event is joined by the inaugural Feb. Month of Miracles, inviting Lobos and other community members to create an individual or business fundraising page to support UNM Children’s Hospital.

The Month of Miracles is UNM Children’s Hospital’s (UNMCH) inaugural virtual fundraiser leading up to Radiothon 2021. It is a new fundraising campaign allowing people to share the cause, share their own experiences with UNM Children’s Hospital, and ask friends, family, colleagues and community members to donate.

This will be 100.3 The Peak’s 17th Annual Radiothon. This event has helped more than 1 million New Mexico kids and their families during that time.

“Jackie, Tony, Donnie, and Ryan of 100.3 The Peak will be on air from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. to share interviews with hospital workers and patients (our smallest patient to interview this year is just 6 years old!) and help educate the public about what services are available at UNMCH. Event day is as much about advocacy as it is about fundraising – it also helps educate the public about the services available to all kids at UNMCH,” said Lauren Oberlin, the Program Director of the Children's Miracle Network at UNMCH.

The goal of Radiothon is to pull together New Mexicans in support of special programs, equipment, and supplies not covered by insurance at UNMCH.

“UNMCH is New Mexico’s only dedicated children’s hospital and “safety-net” hospital (meaning patients receive the best care possible regardless of their ability to pay) and serves over 66,000 kids a year from all 33 counties in New Mexico,” said Oberlin.

UNMCH is a non-profit hospital and community donations are critical to supporting programs like Child Life, which helps reduce the patients’ stress during their stay and helps kids still feel like kids, even when they’re sick. Radiothon also helps purchase state-of-the-art equipment needed to keep kids healthy.

Part of 2019’s Radiothon dollars supported the purchase of seven new pediatric respirators in Dec. 2019.

“Our hospital had no idea a pandemic was coming but knew we needed respirators, and these have since been critical during the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Oberlin.

UNM alumni can help by texting ‘JTD’ to 51555 to give, creating a fundraising page with “February Month of Miracles”, and liking, sharing, and following “Children’s Miracle Network – UNM Children’s Hospital” on Facebook.

Those interested in donating can also give online at the UNM Foundation's Children's Miracle Network Hospital fund. 

“Every dollar counts, especially during a pandemic, and we need all the help we can get this year! Even our UNMCH departments are signing up to help spread the word. People can sign up to raise any amount, even $5 (that is enough to cover 5 packs of crayons for Child Life art therapy or a meal tray for a parent during their child’s stay) and can create a fundraising team if they want to team up for the cause,” explained Oberlin.