Donations to La Crosse Children’s Miracle Network radiothon exceed last year’s total by more than $20,000

It was another six-figure fundraiser this fall for the Children’s Miracle Network (CMN) in La Crosse.

The annual CMN Radiothon in October at Gundersen Health System received $127,916.23 in donations that benefit ailing children and their families. That’s about $20,000 above what the Radiothon raised a year ago.

The two-day fundraiser was broadcast over Mid-West Family radio stations in La Crosse on Oct. 12-13.

Jean Taylor from 95.7 The Rock represented Mid-West Family at a check presentation ceremony Thursday, wrapping up this year’s campaign.

Taylor said La Crosse is fortunate to have a fundraising program such as this, which many larger cities don’t have. She called the result “miraculous.”

Also attending the event was Rushford, Minn., parent Melisa Kinneberg, whose 5-year-old son Charlie requires special equipment to help him breathe normally.

She said Charlie needed an air machine at home “24-7,” and credits CMN with helping to pay rent for machines at the cost of about $400 a month.

“They also helped us pay the rent for (an) oxygen tank for back and forth in the vehicle to appointments,” Kinneberg said.

Kinneberg also works on CMN fundraisers in Rushford, in association with the Brooklyn Days celebration.

“Our local fire department helps us by grilling all of our brats and hot dogs, and we do chips, and it’s just free-will donation,’ she said.

According to Kinneberg, seeing the generosity of donors to the radiothon shows “how wonderful the world is sometimes.”

The 2024 Radiothon for CMN in La Crosse is tentatively scheduled for Oct. 10-11.