No Frills places second in all of Canada for ‘Round Up’ fundraiser

By Kristena Schutt-Moore

The No Frills in Bancroft was number one in its district of 24 stores for raising money for this year's Round Up fundraiser, and came in second for all No Frills in Canada! Every year No Frills hosts a Round Up fundraiser to raise funds for local charities. In Bancroft the fundraiser works to support the North Hastings District Hospital Auxiliary's campaign to purchase equipment for the Bancroft hospital.

This year they were able to raise a total of $7,231.23 by customers rounding up their bills at the cash register to the nearest full dollar amount, some customers donated an extra $5 or $10 to the cause. Then the No Frills Team did some rounding up of their own and the store donated $768.77, rounding the total raised to an even $8,000 for the hospital. This total landed the Bancroft No Frills in the position of one of the top fundraisers for the company's annual Round Up event, in second place for top fundraiser for all of Canada.

Store owner Tony McLaughlin says thank you to the community, “Without the community's help and the hard work from the staff we would never have been able to raise this much to help the hospital or place second in Canada.”

There are plans in the works for next year's Round Up Fundraiser already so that Bancroft can take the number one spot.

The funds raised this year will be used to purchase much needed equipment at the Bancroft hospital such as an ISTAT Machine which is a piece of equipment that is used to analyze the blood samples that helps decision-making for patients in the emergency department. The hospital has one but is at the need of its useful lifespan and the replacement costs $10,189.

The second piece of equipment is an ECG machine. The hospital has two machines but their life span is only nine years and the whole one was replaced last year. The hospital is no longer able to order replacement parts for the other. The cost to replace the older machine is $18,391.

The third piece of equipment is the trauma stretcher. This purchase is to also replace a piece of equipment that is past its prime. The stretcher gives staff the ability to take x-rays and other tests without having to move the patients. The cost to replace the stretcher is $14,876.
The total the NHDHA is hoping to raise this year is $43,456.

To accomplish this the NHDHA hopes to hold more fundraisers throughout the year, and the New To You Thrift Shop, located next to Eagles Nest Restaurant, and the Corner Cafe, located at the Bancroft hospital, is open to serve area shoppers.