What’s happening?
The Group of Five and Friends is celebrating the season of gift-giving with a fundraiser featuring a reception, a live auction, theme tables, a cash bar and hors d’oeuvres by Mr. Mom’s World. It’s taking place on Friday, Nov. 15 from 5 to 7:30 p.m. at Centennial Lodge in Queen’s Park.
“We serve very wonderful hors d’oeuvres. There is wine and beer,” said Gerda Suess, one of the founders of the New West-based non-profit. “It is a relaxing atmosphere.”
What is the Group of Five?
The Group of Five and Friends, which was a group initially comprised of five local women, is a New West-based non-profit that raises money to buy equipment for Royal Columbian Hospital. Since being founded in 2005, the group has organized various events to raise money for the hospital, including teas and seasonal events.
What will the money be used for?
Funds raised at the upcoming fundraiser will go toward the purchase of a patient recliner ($2,620) and an over bed suture light ($3,775).
“Those items are requested by the emergency department,” Suess said. “We have to raise $6,000 for those two articles. That is just for one chair and one light.”
Suess noted Royal Columbian Hospital’s wishlist actually includes six of the reclining chairs
What kind of impact has the Group of Five had?
Since its formation, the Group of Five has purchased a wide variety of items for various departments at the hospital, including gurneys, monitors and arthroscopic cameras for the emergency room, televisions for the pediatric department, skeletons for the education department, and bone foam forms for the operating room – and much more.
“What is needed in the hospital – the wish list is endless,” Suess said. “The little amount of money we raise has always gone for a good cause to that Royal Columbian Hospital. What I always say is, you may not believe it but you may have to go to that hospital one day yourself, and maybe they need an instrument that they have not got but they sure can use.”
How can I attend?
Tickets, $40 per person, are available by calling 604-522-7196 or 604-521-9594 or emailing [email protected]. More information about the Group of Five is at groupoffive.ca.
