CONNOR HOFFMAN
News Editor
Fredonia Radio Systems (FRS) is hosting a fundraiser dedicated to raising money to help recently retired custodial worker Randy Goodemote fight cancer. FRS is selling special bracelets for $2 that say “Team Randy – We Have Your Back!”
Goodemote was diagnosed with cancer last year on Dec. 30, his birthday, and he is currently going through chemotherapy to fight the cancer. He mentioned in a Facebook interview that the main expenses he has to pay for are the co-payments on his medicine and gas and parking fees.
He said that he decided to retire on Sept. 3, so that he could file for disability and Social Security. He said that it takes quite long for disability benefits to process, and he’s still waiting to hear back if he’s been approved. He also said that a lot of professors and faculty offered to give him sick days, but now that he’s retired, he can’t use these sick days.
Rebecca D’Hilly, a senior public relations major and the FRS general manager, explained how she reacted when she heard the news of Goodemote’s illness.
“At first it was heartbreaking … as soon as we found out, my heart broke in half,” said D’Hilly. “He’s such a good human being, like, to the core, the most genuine man I have ever met.”
She also said that Goodemote was very supportive of the radio station and its members.
“He used to come into the station every day, and that’s not because he had to be there. That’s because he made a special stop in to see us and see how we are doing,” said D’Hilly. She also said that he would always be at their events, even some in Buffalo, and that he would always would listen to their shows.
Harper Fischer, a junior video productions major the FRS public relations director, said that Goodemote was very happy when he heard they were doing the fundraiser to help him. “He was floored. He was so happy and everything … he loved it,” said Fischer.
D’Hilly said that FRS decided to do the fundraiser to show Goodemote that the group has his back and that its members would try to help him out in any way. She explained why FRS decided to use the bracelets as their fundraiser method.
“I guess, on a promotional mindset, they were easy to get, they were fast,” said D’Hilly. “We thought, ‘What do people wear all the time?’ Well, bracelets. Super easy. One size fits all.”
D’Hilly also mentioned that FRS held a fundraiser for Goodemote last semester where they sold cooked hamburgers and hot dogs.
There was also a fundraiser on May 22 at the Sheridan Veterans of Foreign Wars, organized by his sister Peggy Goodemote, Mary Erick and Anne Haase. Goodemote said that the fundraiser was “quite successful for being set up on short notice,” and that it raised over $12,000.
D’Hilly feels that the fundraiser has been a success. She said that the goal for them is to raise around $500, but that if they reach this goal, she’s happy to keep doing it if there’s a demand for the bracelets.
She said that a lot of people have bought the bracelets, even some buying multiples, and that she’s had many people donate money to Goodemote’s cause. She joked that she knows people that buy five bracelets at a time and wear all five.
Overall, D’Hilly is happy with how the event has gone for FRS.
“This was kind of a trial run honestly,” said D’Hilly. “We ordered them, and we didn’t even know if anyone was going to buy them … it seems like we’re getting a good reaction.”
Tags: Randy Goodemote, Fredonia Radio Systems, Fundraiser, Fredonia, Cancer, Bracelets