St. Joseph’s Hospital Foundation has announced major changes to their annual pre-Christmas fundraiser – the Festival of Trees presented by Kingston Midstream.
With COVID-19 and the restrictions outlined by the Government of Saskatchewan, and working closely with the Saskatchewan Health Authority, the foundation will not be able to host their annual in-person events including their gala supper, the Christmas Tea and Santa’s Breakfast with the Bruins, sponsored by the Estevan Mercury.
Instead, the organization has come up with an all-new version of the annual event – Festival of Trees: There’s No Place Like Home Edition.
The altered event will feature something for everyone as the holiday season approaches. Events include office Christmas parties, corporate advertising packages, an online 50/50 raffle, Christmas tea parties, an online silent auction and family activities to do at home leading up to Christmas.
Family activities include Santa’s workshop craft kits and Night Before Christmas Kits. These kits along with new winter St. Joseph’s Hospital Foundation merchandise, will all be available for purchase and free local delivery at www.sjhf.shop.
Christmas Tea Parties will be delivered to and hosted by each senior living facility in the area.
“Due to COVID-19, we really needed to find a way to still have our holiday event, but in a new and innovative way. Festival of Trees is not only a huge event for our community leading up to Christmas, but is also a major fundraiser for our hospital,” said foundation executive director Breanne Van de Woestyne.
“We are looking to offer something for everyone and work with our supporters to continue to raise funds for new equipment and services at our hospital this year. With this new event model, we are really trying to promote Christmas at home with spending time with friends and family leading up to the holiday season all while supporting a very important cause in our community.”
The Ultimate 50/50 Raffle will be sponsored by Murray GM Estevan and will be the first fundraiser to launch beginning Oct. 1. All other fundraisers will launch Nov. 13 and run until the middle of December.
All information about the events will be added to the Festival of Trees website at www.festivaloftreesestevan.com.
“We are asking our community to join in on these new ways of not only celebrating the holiday season, but supporting local healthcare right here at home,” said Van DeWoestyne.
Festival of Trees has been a major fundraiser for the St. Joseph’s Hospital Foundation since it was launched in 2013. It features a weekend of holiday festivities. The weekend festival has raised thousands of dollars to support the purchasing of new medical equipment at St. Joseph’s Hospital.
