Six children's hospitals in Wisconsin are going to receive a total of nearly $280,000 that has been jointly donated by Marcus Theatres, the National Association of Theatre Owners of Wisconsin and Upper Michigan (NATO), Variety -- The Children's Charity of Wisconsin, Will Rogers Institute, and advertising network Screenvision.

According to the press release issued last week by Marcus Theatres, "the selected hospitals will use the funds for critical state-of-the-art pulmonary care equipment and to fund pulmonary programs for the fragile children in their neonatal intensive care units." The hospitals that will receive the funds are:

• Children's Hospital of Wisconsin in Milwaukee ($50,000)
• St. Mary's Hospital in Madison ($50,000)
• Ministry Saint Joseph's Hospital in Marshfield ($44,000)
• St. Vincent Hospital in Green Bay ($49,000)
• Franciscan Skemp La Crosse Hospital ($37,000)
• Gundersen Lutheran Health System in La Crosse ($45,000)

$50,000 of the total was donated by moviegoers during the 'Kids Helping Kids' campaign held this summer at Marcus Theatres locations.

It doesn't say how much each organization contributed to the fund, but perhaps this donation will help lessen the annoyance of sitting through those pre-show ads that are put on the screen by Screenvision. Perhaps just a little...

Source: Marcus Theatres Press Release