ROANOKE COUNTY, Va. – In the 18 years of Dick & Dave’s Miracle Day fundraiser, this is the first year they can’t bring families into the Q99 studio to share their stories.
“Kids still get sick. COVID didn’t stop children from getting sick,” said host Dick Daniels.
The annual radiothon supports children in local hospitals through Children’s Miracle Network by providing critical medical equipment and services for the NICU and pediatric units at Carilion Children’s, Virginia Baptist and Lynchburg General Hospitals.
“Hospital budgets only go so far and this is just, it just boosts it a little bit to be able to do some of the things that maybe they couldn’t ordinarily do,” said host David Page.
Instead, Daniels and Page did socially-distanced interviews beforehand with families who rely on Children’s Miracle Network. The goal is to share stories that touch listeners’ hearts.
“Everybody has a kid in their life—whether their own kids, nieces, nephews, whatever—and can just relate to, ‘If that were me. If that were my kid,’” said Page. “That’s what makes it happen is just that hearing about kids and these heartbreaking stories, it makes a difference.”
The radiothon and Children’s Miracle Network have made a difference for Meredith and Meg Burrow.
7-year-old Meg is diagnosed with cerebellar hypoplasia and CTBP1, an extremely rare genetic disorder. She’s the 13th known case in the world.
The Burrows first shared their story with Dick & Dave when Meg was three years old. Between countless surgeries, hospital and doctor’s visits, Meredith doesn’t know what they would have done without Children’s Miracle Network.
“It would be really hard because we wouldn’t know which direction to go. Not only do they provide like resources, like funding for the hospital, but they provide resources for families,” said Meredith.
In the past two decades, Dick & Dave’s Miracle Day has raised more than $2 million. This year, they know money’s tight.
“Obviously, it’s been tough on the economy and whatnot, and so we don’t know what we’re getting into as far as donations go because it has been such a rough year with COVID,” said Page.
But they said every little bit counts.
“The end goal is raising as much money as we can to help these children that are in the hospital now and the children that are going to be in the hospital in the future,” said Daniels.
The radiothon runs from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Friday, March 5. You can still donate online throughout the weekend.