KC Riley Radio Days, a fundraiser for the KC Riley Kids Fund held at the Kosciusko County Community Foundation raised nearly $53,000 on Thursday and Friday of last week.

WRSW 107.3 FM hosted KC Riley Radio Days which featured live interviews with children and families who have benefitted from care at Riley Children’s Hospital. The KC Riley Kids Fund supports Riley Children’s Hospital and provides financial assistance in the form of gas and food cards to Kosciusko County families served by Riley.

Fund founders and business partners Alan Alderfer and Mike Bergen, who both have children that have been treated at Riley, expressed their gratitude to the event’s sponsors, volunteers and donors. Alderfer and Bergen do not benefit from the fund, but as Riley families realized the financial strain that a child’s serious illness places on a family and wanted to do something to help.

“The generosity of this community never ceases to amaze me,” said Alderfer. “To every individual, work crew, and business who donated to help a child, thank you.”

Bergen said, “My wife was waiting at a train crossing during one of the Riley family’s interviews. At one point, she looked around at the other commuters waiting for the train, and saw that everyone was crying just like her. She knew they were listening to the same story. Listeners responded, gave, and made it possible for more local children to get help and hope.”

Since 2011, the fund has awarded nearly $106,000 in grants in support of Riley Children’s Hospital and to assist local families served by Riley. Families who need assistance from the fund can call 574-372-3500.

Since 1968, Kosciusko County Community Foundation, Inc. has brought caring people and charitable endeavors together for the good of the community. The Community Foundation is a public charity, and gifts made to the Foundation are tax-deductible. For more information about the Community Foundation, visit www.kcfoundation.org, call 574-267-1901, or visit our office at 102 E. Market St., Warsaw.