Festival of Trees aims to raise $100,000 for M.L. hospital

Nov 23, 2017 | 3:02 PM

What has become a much anticipated holiday event for Meadow Lake, has also raised much-needed funds for the Northwest Health Facility over the last 12 years.

The Festival of Trees, hosted by the Meadow Lake Hospital Foundation (MLHF), is one of the main annual fundraisers for the group, and goes directly to equipment upgrades at the hospital.

Originally, the event consisted of a dinner gala and auction of trees and wreaths decorated by local groups. This year’s dinner, which takes place on Saturday, Nov. 25 was sold out a week and a half ago, and there is a waiting list for tickets. A couple years ago, a Santa breakfast and pictures were added to the festivities, so more people can see the display and give to the cause.

Don Marsh, president of the MLHF said the $100,000 goal for this year is mostly for equipment at the hospital, but $25,000 is earmarked for the new Northland Pioneers Lodge.

“There’s a list of specific equipment that the hospital has requested that they need that doesn’t have funding from any other source,” he said. “First on the list is a new operating room table, which is just over $56,000 [alone]. In talking to the doctors, this table has needed replacement for about 20 years.”

The other items on the list include a cautery machine, a pediatric crash cart, a vacuum delivery system, a chemotherapy infusion chair and a chemotherapy vital signs monitor.

He said it’s become a well-known and well-attended event over the years because of the hospital’s reach in the community.

“At one point or another, everybody or their family need the hospital, the equipment that’s in the hospital and the staff that are there,” Marsh said. “The better equipped our hospital is, the better chances of a happy outcome for the emergency that will undoubtedly pop up in everybody’s lives.”

The Santa breakfast and pictures with Santa event runs from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 25.

 

kathy.gallant@jpbg.ca  

On Twitter @ReporterKath