A dozen Christmas trees on the grounds of the Nanaimo Regional Hospital will be brightly lit this coming Christmas.
But only if residents of the Harbour City can come through and help out.
It’s all part of the Nanaimo and District Hospital Foundation’s Light the Trees campaign, its first-ever Christmas fundraising initiative which is aiming to raise $500,000.
“It’s a big request, but we know Nanaimo can do it,” said Janice Perrino, chief executive officer for the hospital foundation.
Individuals are encouraged to donate to the foundation from today (Dec. 1) to Dec. 24. As donations roll in, more and more lights will be lit up in the days leading up to Christmas.
With enough donations, all 12 Christmas trees will be brightly lit on Christmas.
“It’s going to look a little spare at the beginning, but hopefully it will ramp up and by Christmas Eve we hope to have every Christmas tree on,” Perrino said.
The hospital’s new CT scanner was purchased earlier this year at a cost of $900,000. Perino said the hospital needs to pay off the CT scanner before it can begin raising money for other major pieces of equipment for its cancer and heart clinics.
“That’s our biggest worry is because the hospital needs more and more equipment all the time, so we have to get through one campaign before we can goto the second one,” she said.
Perrino said while $500,000 is a big goal, it’s going toward an important cause that will benefit everyone in the community.
“We need the donations to make sure that we can buy the equipment,” she said. “I always want to make sure that people realize that they have the very best equipment, so that our health professionals can diagnose, treat and cure people as quickly as possible so they can go back to their lives.”
For more information and to donate, please visit www.nanaimohospitalfoundation.com.