Jean Taylor, Mid-West Family La Crosse honored with Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals’ Miracle Achievement Award

Receiving an award for charitable work can be a humbling experience.

That’s precisely the spot Jean Taylor found herself in this week, as she learned that the company she works so tirelessly for, Mid-West Family, was being named the recipient of the Miracle Achievement Award by the Children’s Miracle Network (CMN) Hospitals.

CMN, a nonprofit based in La Crosse, raises funds to support families with children undergoing hospital treatment. These funds provide essential resources such as meal vouchers, gas cards, lodging and flights, as well as adaptive equipment to help improve children’s quality of life.

One of CMN’s biggest fundraising efforts is the annual 24-hour Radiothon, organized by Taylor and the Mid-West Family team. Throughout the event, Mid-West Family staff interview children and their families, sharing their stories of resilience and determination and help bring in donations over the airwaves on 95.7 The Rock, KQ98, and Z93.

Over four years, the Radiothon has raised over $400,000 for CMN.

The announcement of Mid-West Family’s award came Thursday on WIZM’s La Crosse Talk, where CMN specialist Abby Ryan shared the news with host Ken Cooper and Taylor.

“You help organize it,” Ryan told Taylor. “You put together vignettes. You speak to the families. You tell the stories of the people most impacted by what we do for CMN hospitals. We are a great organization for our community, but you are the loudspeaker that gives us the voice we need.”

Overcome with emotion, Taylor was momentarily speechless.

“I think my mascara is down to here, isn’t it?” she said.

La Crosse Talk airs weekdays at 6-8 a.m. Listen on the WIZM app, online here, or on 92.3 FM / 1410 AM / 106.7 FM (north of Onalaska). Find all the podcasts here or subscribe to La Crosse Talk wherever you get your podcasts.

Once she collected herself, Taylor emphasized the importance of CMN’s work and the privilege of being part of its mission.

“Just to be a part of that—and how lucky we are in our community to have CMN serving so many people across so many counties—is incredible,” Taylor said. “There aren’t CMN hospitals everywhere. There are big cities—CITIES—huge cities that don’t have them. And for our area to serve all these counties, these kids, and these families, we’re lucky. And we need to take care of that gift.”

Beyond her work on the Radiothon, Taylor also played a key role in raising funds for CMN through the first annual Big River Rally last summer, which collected donations during a Coulee Region ride.

Mid-West Family will receive the Miracle Achievement Award on April 11 at the CMN Miracle Gala, held at The Waterfront.