See how a little pink paint can go a long way
It is the 4th of the month which means it's time to call your buddy as a reminder to do a self breast exam; it's also time for our November Buddy Check Report.
Giving back to the community is a big theme in this series.
In tonight's Buddy Check we meet a man who has a new way to raise awareness and make a difference.
Kevin Johnson's family has lived in Otsego County for 4 generations. The Family business is providing propane to the community and there's a lot he's learned along the way, like giving back is a business basic.
Johnson is the company's president and says, "If the community is good to you and you're a local business then I think you should give back."
But there are other family traits he hopes will not pass down through the generations.
He says, "My dad passed away, started with prostate cancer and got through that then passed away from pancreatic cancer and so cancer is definitely in our family."
So when he recently was looking for a new way to help out, a post on facebook caught his eye.
Johnson says, "We wanted to give back to the community and we had a customer and a good friend dealing with breast cancer and so we came up with the idea."
The idea was to paint one of their propane trunks pink and give a portion of the proceeds will help Otsego Memorial Hospital cover the cost of its new digital mammography equipment they've been installing over the last month.
Radiologist Dr. Ryan Hoenicke says, "The digital images we have are now the best images in northern Michigan, cutting edge, top of the line."
Not only is the new equipment more comfortable for patients with lower radiation, results are clearer and faster.
Dr. Hoenicke says, "the old system was actual film we had to develop so if there was ever a need to repeat images there was a longer wait in between we had to wait four minutes for each film to develop no its ready in 30-45 seconds so if there needs to be a repeat it can be done immediately."
Otsego Memorial Hospital hoped to raise $371,000 for the two units and so far raised more than $300,000 from the community.
Dr. Hoenicke says, I think it's fantastic whenever you can re-invest in your community whether it's personal or corporate. I think it's a fantastic opportunity."
Johnson says he hopes his company's pink propane truck will make a difference as long as it's needed. "I don't see it ending anytime soon for the amount of women that deal with this. I have 3 girls in my family, wife and two daughters so it's near and dear so I see no reason to end it. We'll go after this project and another project and keep battling no matter how long it takes to help this community get rid of it to help those people through such a terrible disease."
