Published: January 10, 2007 12:40 am      

PRETTY BABY: US&J contest proceeds donated to area hospitals

The “Pretty Baby” contest was a success.

On Tuesday, Lockport Memorial Hospital and Inter-Community Memorial Hospital each received a check for $2,000 to help fund new equipment and other necessities for their respective maternity wards.

Susan Wendler, community relations representative for LMH, said she was thrilled with the donation.

“It’s more than I had anticipated,” she said. “I didn’t exactly know what to expect. It’s very generous, and it’s most appreciated.”

ICMH Community Relations Representative Carolyn Moore said she was very pleased with the outcome, as well.

“We were very happy,” she said. “We certainly are very grateful to the Union-Sun, and we thank them very much for selecting our two hospitals.”

Moore said the funds will be used at ICMH to purchase new equipment for the newly-renovated OB department.

“We do have some additional medical equipment and things we need to purchase for the new unit, so we will put it toward that,” she said. “It will definitely help us out in the OB department.”

At LMH, the funds will also help pay for new equipment, Wendler said.

“We will use it for patient care,” she said. “It’s a substantial amount, so that as things are needing to be replaced, such as equipment, it would be able to be utilized in that way.”

Publisher Steve Hall said the contest was a big success.

“The Union-Sun & Journal is very pleased to be making these donations to our two local hospitals,” Hall said. “They perform an outstanding service for our community all year long, and we are happy to be making these donations to benefit the maternity wards at each hospital.”

The contest asked local parents to submit photos of their babies in order to win a spot in the 2007 Pretty Baby Calendar. Readers cast votes on their favorite babies. From there, Mayfair Studio photographed the 12 winning babies for the calendar.

“We were very pleased to be able to give $4,000 to a charity,” Advertising Manager Diane Crowe said. “We know they’ll put it to good use”

The winner was five-month-old Morgan Mill, who appears on the cover of the calendar and in the photo for August.

“This was an exciting contest to run,” Hall said. “It was great to see all the involvement from throughout our community. We always strive to have as many local names and local faces in the paper as possible, and they don’t get any better than all these great kids.”

Both Wendler and Moore said they wanted to thank the community for becoming involved in the contest.

“I would like to thank the community for participating in many ways in the project,” Wendler said. “First of all, for submitting baby pictures, and secondly for those that voted. And then to the Union-Sun, for conducting it and carrying it out and the production of the calendar.”

The calendars, featuring the 12 highest vote-getters, are now on sale for $5 each at the Union-Sun & Journal, 170 East Ave. To reserve a copy, call 439-9222.

Contact April Amadon at 439-9222, Ext. 6251.