Jeannette Wetty and Kamela Sooknanan slap a pie in the face of Joe Austin for the United Way.

This year is shaping up to be one of giving as employees of North Fulton Regional Hospital demonstrated their support for United Way of Metro Atlanta. The hospital exceeded its fundraising campaign goal of $15,000.

Helping to make the 2008 campaign a success were the many events hosted by the United Way committee, which offered employees numerous avenues to donate funds. As in years past, employees were able to opt for the traditional paycheck deduction, but the hospital also developed some creative methods to foster enthusiasm and urge everyone to participate beyond just filling out the campaign contribution form.

“This year we did many more interactive fundraising activities with employee involvement,” said Kamela Sooknanan, Director of Clinical Quality Improvement and one of the spear headers of the United Way Campaign. “Keeping the campaign visible and positive with a
daily event helped generate excitement throughout the hospital.”

Among these creative fundraising methods included a yard sale, a one dollar balloon pop for mystery prizes, a 50/50 raffle and a chance to throw pies in the faces of administration team members and department directors. At just five dollars per pie, employees, physicians and volunteers jumped at this opportunity. These same hospital leaders also donned ties in a friendly contest where for one dollar, participants could cut an inch off of an individual’s tie of their choosing. This contest became heated as the tie-wearer with the most inches chopped off earned bragging rights as the winner of this event. In the end, Chief Operating Officer Ilona Wozniak was crowned the victor of the tie fundraiser.

“This campaign was a lot of fun for everyone,” Sooknanan explained. “The employees especially liked the fact that our administration team members came out to join in the fun.”

In addition to the hospital-wide campaign geared toward employees, North Fulton Regional Hospital also enjoys supporting the United Way through a grant courtesy of the Tenet Healthcare Foundation. The Foundation directs most of its grants to help unmet healthcare needs in the communities served by hospitals and regional offices owned by Tenet subsidiaries. The Foundation also provides grants to various educational, social services, civics and humanities-supporting organizations nation-wide.

For more information about North Fulton Regional Hospital’s efforts throughout the community, visit www.northfultonregional.com/sponsorship.