Foundation Gala: An Evening at the Palace raises $455,000 for Stevenson Memorial
ALLISTON – June 05, 2015 – On Friday, May 29, close to 500 attendees were present at the Stevenson Memorial Hospital Foundation (SMH)’s An Evening at the Palace gala. The Moroccan inspired event was a tremendous success raising more than $455,000 in gross revenue for the purchase of medical equipment and capital projects at Stevenson.
An Evening at the Palace saw a small community pull together to put on a world class event. Kevin Frankish of Breakfast Television returned as gala M.C. while Storage Wars Canada’s Don Reinhart was the auctioneer for the live auction. Other highlights included a silent auction, a raffle for a diamond necklace and a live auction for critical hospital equipment. The support from the Stevenson Memorial community rivaled that of much larger hospitals and communities
The night also saw generous donations from both the SMH hospital Board and the hospital’s Foundation Board of Directors. A friendly challenge was made between the two Boards and an extremely generous donation of approximately $8,000 was made by each board during the live auction. “The immense support we receive in terms of expertise and financial support from both of our boards is truly humbling,” says Jody Levac, President & CEO. “This support along with the generous support of our community is instrumental in providing us with critical lifesaving equipment and capital dollars.”
Hospitals in the province of Ontario are mandated to seek funding from the community in order to purchase new equipment and fund portions of capital building projects. Stevenson Memorial is in the early stage of its redevelopment journey as it seeks approval from the provincial government to embark upon the largest redevelopment project in its history. The redevelopment would focus on the Emergency Department, labs, operating rooms, diagnostic imaging and medical surgical facilities. When approval is given from the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care, Stevenson will be relying on its Foundation to raise the local share requirement for the redevelopment which includes 10% of capital costs as well as 100% of furniture, fixtures and medical equipment costs.
An Evening at the Palace was made possible through the tireless efforts of the Gala co-chairs Margaret Barber, Chair of the SMH Foundation’s Board of Directors and Darlene Blendick, director on the Board of SMH along with the rest of the committee and a host of dedicated volunteers.
Stevenson Memorial Hospital is extremely grateful for the support of its community, Board of Directors and its Foundation. Moving forward, this support will see the hospital through a successful redevelopment.
