Hope and the future: Meadow Lake Hospital Foundation

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“We’ve been surprised this year as far as to how well we have done,” Vandenberg said. “Looking into the future, getting back into having a golf tournament and other fundraising events we could possibly have. We’re all hoping for the best, and that we can get back to some sense of normalcy again.”

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Social events like the annual golf tournament and the Festival of Trees banquet were heavily impacted by the public health guidelines, leaving the foundation with the option of finding alternative methods to move forward with the occasion or having them cancelled.

To keep one of its biggest fundraisers, the MLHF pushed back the date of its annual golf tournament to June. Each year the tournament, which is typically held in the fall, hosts over 100 people and brings in anywhere between $11,000 – $14,000, nearly 10 per cent of the annual donations.

The Festival of Trees banquet, the MLHF’s biggest fundraiser, seats around 250 people and adds around $90,000 to the organization’s finances. Vandenberg mentioned while moving the event to a virtual setting wasn’t looked at early in the year, the move made the event more inclusive to the community.

“We had a broader spectrum of people being able to get involved with the Festival of Trees. In a normal festival, you have about 250 people in attendance. Here, you have maybe 5,000 people that could possibly hear about it and maybe get involved. We did see a variety of people that were involving themselves in the online bidding. They stood behind the hospital foundation, and it was really great to see their support regardless of whether it was the fundraiser supper or the online auction.”

Vandenberg claimed the foundation is working on bringing dialysis into the hospital. He added the group is looking at future fundraising events to cover the costs of the new addition.

“Right now, the community has to go to North Battleford or Saskatoon for dialysis. To bring it and keep it in Meadow Lake is great for the community. When people have to start travelling twice a week, that gets not only costly, but it wear and tears on a body that’s already going through so much.”

Vandenberg said he hopes everyone enjoys the rest of the holiday season and he thanks the community for its support.

“A big thanks goes to the community for supporting our foundation. We’re here for the community, we keep things local, and that means a lot to everyone who is involved,” he said.

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Elliott.Knopp@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @ElliottKnopp