Giving Tuesday raises $58,484 for the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Foundation
Published Tuesday, December 7, 2021
Vanessa Mihaljevic, Registered Nurse, Labour & Delivery, TBRHSC
Giving Tuesday happens each year and is an international day of giving, taking place after the sales of Black Friday and Cyber Monday. It’s a day where people rally behind and support their favorite causes. The Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Foundation uses Giving Tuesday to help kick off the season of giving, which happened this year on Tuesday, November 30.
This year, the Foundation had a goal of raising $48,000 to purchase two new Panda Infant Warmers for the hospital’s Labour & Delivery ward and NICU. During the 24-hour period, donations came in online, by phone, via text, and in-person. Several partners challenged the community to donate by matching gifts. These partners included Rainbow Printers, Gary & Leslie Savitsky, Alex & Vince Mirabelli of RE/MAX First Choice Realty, and Dr. Rhonda Crocker Ellacott, President & CEO of the Thunder Bay Regional Health Science Centre and CEO of the Thunder Bay Regional Health Research Institute.
The initial $48,0000 goal was reached around 6:00 pm, so the Foundation announced a “stretch goal” of an additional $10,000 to be used to purchase a delivery cart for the Labour & Delivery ward. This way, anyone who wanted to donate but had not been able to before 6:00 pm would still be able to donate to purchase a vital piece of equipment for the department.
At the end of the day, donations including matching gifts tallied $58,484, meaning not only is the Foundation able to purchase two Panda Infant Warmers, but they will also be purchasing a delivery cart, which holds important tools for the Labour & Delivery team to use.
“I know I can speak for everyone in the Labour & Delivery ward when I say how thankful we are that the Foundation was able to purchase this equipment for our hospital. They wouldn’t be able to do it without the generous donations from people in our community and for this we are beyond grateful!,” says Vanessa Mihaljevic, Registered Nurse, Labour & Delivery. “These infant warmers have features like an integrated scale and hands-free alarm silence, which allow caregivers to focus on the more critical aspects of our jobs, so they really will make a difference in the care we are able to provide to our tiniest patients.
Each year, the community support on Giving Tuesday has been incredible. In the past few years, donations that came in on Giving Tuesday have helped purchase hundreds of thousands of dollars of equipment. Some of this equipment includes nine pacemaker generators and a defibrillator for the Operating Room, three open heart instrument trays for Cardiac Surgery, three vital signs monitors, two Bili Blankets to treat jaundice in newborns and a Fetal Telemetry Monitor for Labour & Delivery, just to name a few.