The miracle of Gray’s July 26 fundraiser for the Beverly Knight Olson Children’s Hospital continued for days after its conclusion, ultimately adding an additional $27,000 for the kids.
The owner of Gray’s Dairy Queen, Justin Kelly, the driving force behind the fundraiser, took the idea of Miracle Treat Day and ran with it. While other restaurants donate a dollar for each blizzard sold that day, Kelly has donated 100 percent of the day’s receipts since 2021.
At the end of July 26, Kelly announced that the communities of Gray and Jones County raised $123,677. That was a huge increase over the $91,000 in 2023 and $80,000 the previous years, but it did not stop there.
When he presented the check to the hospital Aug. 13, it was in the amount of $150,809.
“The checks just continued coming in the next day,” Kelly said.
The owner explained 30 local businesses pledged to match the collections for the local restaurant’s busiest hour. He said because many of those businesses were small, he capped their obligation to $2,000. That was the amount he counted at close of business July 26.
The busiest hour turned out to be from 5-6 p.m. with the collections for the hour of $3,700. Kelly said most of the businesses ended up sending in the full amount, and then three additional businesses signed on and sent in their money.
At the conclusion of this year’s fundraiser, the total funds donated to the children’s hospital since 2021 was over $400,000.
The owner took a small group of the business owners with him to last week’s check presentation. He said they also went on a tour of the hospital.
“We were shown how the donated money is spent,” Kelly said.
He said the tour was one of the first since COVID19. They viewed the x-ray room that looked like an underwater adventure, and Kelly said they also toured the NICU and rooms set up for parents of twins, triplets and premature babies to give them time to get adjusted to caring for the their tiny babies.
“The tour solidified the need and the commitment of our community to do something for sick children,” he said.
The tour made an impact everyone in the group.
“I can definitely see the possibility of us raising a million dollars for the kids over the next five years,” Kelly stated.
