ESTEVAN - The St. Joseph’s Hospital Foundation has announced plans for its annual Festival of Trees fundraiser, with most of the activities happening in the second half of November.
In a news release issued last week, the foundation said the event will feature something for everyone as the holiday season approaches, while raising funds for the hospital. Activities include corporate holiday opportunities, an Ultimate Sweepstakes Raffle, online auctions and an all-new Hometown Family Fun Day. Each activity will be taking place on multiple days from Nov. 15-25.
The hospital foundation will also have a Christmas Headquarters that will be set up at the Estevan Market Mall, featuring Christmas displays, auction items, raffle prizes and the centralized location to pick up all kits and gift baskets. The foundation encourages everyone to stop by to walk through the display and take part in the multiple ways of supporting local healthcare this Christmas season.
There will be a blend of virtual and live activities.
“It’s something that we thought was a great opportunity to do and so we’re just looking forward to having a community event that’s big for our community as we kick off Christmas, but also just doing it in a responsible manner and also ensuring that our funds are used wisely this year,” said Breanne Van De Woestyne.
The hospital foundation was planning to bring back its community gala supper at Affinity Place in November, but decided against it.
The Ultimate Sweepstakes Raffle will launch in mid-October and run for the duration of the Festival of Trees fundraiser, wrapping up on Nov. 25. It will feature approximately $20,000 in prizes, with more than 22 chances to win. It will also showcase what the local business community has to offer.
“It’s going to be a big raffle for us,” said Van De Woestyne. “We’re really excited to launch it next month and see how things go.”
A variety of prizes will be offered, with the grand prize being $5,000.
Raffle tickets will be available at businesses in the community, through the foundation’s board of directors and at the Christmas Headquarters.
The auction will also focus on the local community and the activities that can be enjoyed with family and friends while close to home. There won’t be trips available this year.
“It’s going to be a much larger online auction, with middle to lower value prizes, so that we can really include everyone in the community. All of those prizes will be featured at our Christmas headquarters at the Market Mall,” said Van De Woestyne.
The auction will be online through the Golden West Radio platform used in the past. People can drop by the Christmas headquarters at the mall to view the prizes, and the hospital foundation will be available to help people with bidding.
The Hometown Family Fun Day in November will see a number of restaurants offer free breakfasts for kids that day. The foundation will also partner with several different local businesses, who will offer “free by donation” activities, such as a Christmas movie at the Orpheum Theatre, a family swim, a family skate and a play time at the Energy Outlet Indoor Play Zone.
“We just thought that this would be a great opportunity to make it even bigger this year, and we just have so many amazing businesses that just want to help. But we also want to help them, and really highlight the things that we have here, right here at home,” said Van De Woestyne.
Last year the Festival of Trees activities were held virtually, and it was “very, very successful,” Van De Woestyne said, as roughly $85,000 was raised for the hospital’s needs.
“We thought going into the fall and the winter season, that it would be the best decision for us to move forward with having something a little different this year for one more year, just so that we are ensuring the safety of all of our guests and donors and sponsors and community,” she said.
Some aspects will be back from last year, such as the Christmas advertising packages for local businesses, gift baskets, catered meals for supportive companies, and the take-home Christmas kits, sponsored by the Estevan Mercury, which were a big hit last year.
“They will again include our Night before Christmas kits, our Santa’s workshop kits, and then this year we’re also having cookie decorating kits,” said Van De Woestyne.
They can be found at Christmas Headquarters and at the foundation’s online store.
The Festival of Trees has been a major fundraiser for the St. Joseph’s Hospital Foundation since 2013, featuring a variety of holiday festivities. The festival has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to support the purchasing of new medical equipment at St. Joseph’s Hospital.
Money from this year’s Festival of Trees will be directed to capital needs for the facility. There will be a publicized wish list for items at the hospital, which will likely total around $100,000.
“The last couple of years have been really unpredictable, and so we’re just really hoping that our community can come together again in support of our hospital and our front-line healthcare workers,” said Van De Woestyne.
