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16 - The Oakville Beaver, Friday April 27, 2007 www.oakvillebeaver.com Bank challenge raises funds for hospital ICU beds By David Lea OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF Six of Oakville's major banks are racing to the aid of Oakville-Trafalgar Memorial Hospital (OTMH) by participating in Oakville's second annual Bank and Bed Challenge. During the month-long fundraising activity the hospital provides each bank team with an old hospital bed, the best before date of which has long since passed. Teams are given the opportunity to supe up their beds as best they can in preparation for a bed race on Sunday. The participants this year include 20 branches from the Bank of Montreal, the Royal Bank, Scotiabank, CIBC, HSBC and TD Canada Trust, all who will be raising money for the purchase of new beds at OTMH. "Typically it's not a really attractive piece of equipment that people think of fundraising for, but the beds are really quite expensive," said Denise Hardenne, Halton Healthcare Services Providing A Full Line of Premium Grade Stone Products For Pools . Patios . Walkways . Retaining Walls . Gardens Ph: 905-849-5557 www.boulders.ca Vice- president of Programs and Quality Development. "A regular bed can be around $12,000 and some of the very special ICU beds are significantly more than that. All of that adds up when you have a 300-bed facility and it's really really important to be able to have funding to do replacements and to buy new beds." Besides giving patients a comfortable place to recover, some of the beds paid for with this fundraising money also help a patient to heal, explains Hardenne. "It's helped us to buy beds that have specialty air surfaces on them which help patients prevent skin breakdowns or to help them in healing wounds or bed ulcers." Hardenne is hoping this fundraiser will be as well received as last year's challenge, which raised $82,000 when the goal was only $40,000. This year the Bank and Bed Challenge's goal has been set at $100,000. "Every year there are a number of beds that we need to replace and as we are trying to respond the "We cannot be in a situation where we don't have enough beds. We're bed dependent. We can't treat patients appropriately if we don't have the right number of beds." Denise Hardenne, Halton Healthcare Services Vice-president of programs and Quality Development growing volume in the community there are beds that we need to add," said Hardenne. "We cannot be in a situation where we don't have enough beds. We're bed dependent. We can't treat patients appropriately if we don't have the right number of beds." The six banks will be racing their beds at 9 a.m. on Sunday, April 29. The race will begin at the intersection of Lakeshore Road East and Navy Street. For information about making a donation call 905845-2571, ext. 6247. COME INTO REN'S FOR SPRING SAVINGS April 27-May 6 Max Natural Dog Food 30lb. Dog Food Lamb and Rice, Lite, Senior. 33-41.25lb bag. Excludes Puppy Gourmet Classic Roasted Chicken Adult Formula. 17.6lb bag. 2/$50 ENT BUYER PROGRAM APPLIES $ 00 5 off ENT BUYER PROGRAM APPLIES $ 2999 Natural Choice Dog Food Large Breed Formulas. 30-37.5lb bag. Ultra Holistic Dog Food 4.5lb bag valid only with this coupon. Nutro Buscuits 21-23oz box. $ 00 5 off UENT BUYER PROGRAM APPLIES Free Buy 1 Get 1 Free Hwy #25 Trafalgar Rd. REN'S Pets Depot Prices in effect from April 27 to May 6/07, while supplies last. No home delivery on specials. No dealers please. 6th Ln 4002 TRAFALGAR RD. Family Owned and Operated for Over 33 Years Corner of Trafalgar & Burnhamthorpe Store Hours: Mon. to Fri. 8am-8pm, Sat. 9am-5pm, Sun. 10am-5pm Burnhamthorpe Rd. Hwy #5 Q.E.W k ill #403 905-257-4611 #407