Marathon fundraiser for hospital

BY MARC LALONDE

marc.lalonde@transcontinental.ca

It's a budding tradition that's quickly turning into a rite of spring for many West Islanders: The 94.7 HITS FM Media Celebrity Hockey Marathon, a fundraiser for the Lakeshore General Hospital Foundation.

Now in its fifth installment, the marathon has raised $163,000 in the last four years for the foundation, which acts as the hospital's fundraising arm, and it will run Saturday from 7:30 a.m. to midnight, at the Excellent Ice 3-on-3 rink in Kirkland.

The tournament pits local media (such as The Chronicle) against local companies from dawn 'till dusk and boasts a special all-star challenge marathon, where for a little bit more dough, local hackers can skate against all-star teams made up of former NHL players such as Sergio Momesso, P.J. Stock, Daniel Marois and Canadian women's Olympic Team goalies Kim St. Pierre and Charline Labonte.

94.7 HITS FM promotions director Marty Lamarre said he enjoys organizing the tournament every year for two reasons. First, he said, it's a lot of fun. The second is to pay back a debt he feels to the Lakeshore General Hospital.

"My wife and I lost two kids, and they've taken care of us, so. . . we felt compelled give back," he said.

Not only that, he said, but the Lakeshore General Hospital is in the unique position of serving most Anglophones from Lachine to the Ontario border. The hospital is funded by the government to service the West Island, but growing anglo populations in the off-island area coming to the Lakeshore for care are a drain on hospital resources.

"Every hospital needs help, but if you look at the population statistics, the Lakeshore is serving a lot more people than it' s funded to serve, and they need all the help they can get," he said.

And help is coming in the form of $40,000 -- which is this year's fundraising goal, a figure Lamarre thinks they will reach easily.

"It's great to see how much interest there is in this tournament. I don't know if there's any other event that is able to bring the different media outlets together the way we are doing," he said.

Foundation executive director Silvana Orrino echoed the notion that Lakeshore General is playing catch-up when it comes to the amount of people it serves.

"We serve more people in our ER than the Montreal General or the Royal Victoria hospitals," and those facilities have three times the space Lakeshore has, she said. "We're doing the best we can to raise funds for state-of-the-art equipment that will prevent West Islanders from having to go downtown for care," she said.

Orrino added Lamarre's dedication to the hospital's cause has been nothing short of inspirational.

"We're very, very lucky to be working with someone like Marty, and when you see what a huge amount of money he's brought to the hospital over the past few years, and I think he's just been fabulous," Orrino said.