News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
The Cookeville Regional Charitable Foundation will be doubling all donations they receive for patient-assistance funds or charitable programs all day Tuesday.
Double Your Donation Day will match up to $30,000 by a group of 15 donors. Director John Bell said the funds will be completely restricted from use for overhead or staff expenses.
“It’s really about local folks helping local folks going through a medical emergency or disaster,” Bell said. “So this is a great way to stretch your donated dollar and to double your impact, and to know that you’re helping somebody local.”
Bell said the event began eight years ago when a group of donors pooled their resources and challenged the Upper Cumberland community to match their funds. He said the Foundation is hopeful donations will surpass the $30,000 limit, which has gone up each year for several years in a row.
“We hope to get a few more partners so that next year that limit’s even higher, because this is truly a community fund,” Bell said.
Bell said that donations are a key part of how the Foundation funds its work assisting patients with any struggles related to their medical diagnoses.
“When we assist someone through the Foundation it is almost always never to pay a medical bill,” Bell said. “It’s to assist with things either as they’re leaving the hospital or being seen by another provider and referred somewhere else. So oftentimes that simple stuff like a medication that they can’t afford or a piece of equipment that their insurance won’t cover.”
