For 106 years, the Auxiliary to the University Hospital of Northern BC has supported the hospital through fundraising efforts that began in 1919 with the purchase of a $500 X-ray machine.<\/p>\n
Since then, the auxiliary has raised more than $6 million.<\/p>\n
Originally known as the \u201cladies auxiliary,\u201d the group has a long history of community support.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey were making bed sheets, and during the Depression, the ladies would go out to the community to gather vegetables and things to feed the patients in the hospital and do anything they could to help \u2014 and that\u2019s still our focus,\u201d said Lindy Steele, president of the hospital auxiliary board.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are a service organization and we do a lot of fundraising,\u201d said Debbie Page, a board member and volunteer.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll the funds raised go into this hospital,\u201d added Steele.<\/p>\n
Page noted the auxiliary\u2019s role in helping build the hospital in its early years. \u201cThe ladies auxiliary even started fundraising to build the hospital,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Today, the auxiliary operates a gift shop in the hospital foyer and a thrift shop at 1655 Nicholson St. Each is run by volunteers, with the exception of two part-time staff members at the gift shop who oversee merchandise orders and maintain the lottery kiosk.<\/p>\n
The organization currently has 111 volunteers.<\/p>\n
\u201cMost of us are older and most of us have retired,\u201d Steele said.<\/p>\n
Page, who has volunteered with the non-profit society since 2017, said her involvement is a tribute to her grandmothers, both of whom volunteered with hospital auxiliaries in their hometowns.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey were the ones sewing sheets and that sort of thing,\u201d Page said.<\/p>\n
Steele, who has volunteered for the past decade, said she joined after her husband passed away.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just got my 10-year pin,\u201d she said with a smile. \u201cI needed something to do, and my daughter-in-law, who is a nurse here now, said, \u2018Why don\u2019t you join the auxiliary?\u2019 and I did.\u201d<\/p>\n
Volunteer opportunities within the auxiliary go beyond the gift and thrift shops.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have volunteers that go into the hospital,\u201d Steele said. \u201cWe\u2019ve got two volunteers who go to Jubilee Lodge (a long-term care facility) and play bingo with residents every Tuesday morning. We run the information desk at the hospital, and we have a group that goes into the short-stay medical unit on Fridays to work with patients awaiting long-term care placement. One week we do bingo, another week crafts \u2014 things like that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Volunteers can also contribute by knitting items for babies \u2014 including sets, mittens and blankets \u2014 or by sewing and quilting goods sold in the gift shop. Other handmade items are distributed to the NICU and maternity wards, with a quilt given to every child in the pediatric unit and a lap blanket for every senior awaiting long-term care placement.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur quilters and sewers are major donors,\u201d Steele said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey get donations for their projects from places like PG Sewing Centre,\u201d Page added.<\/p>\n
The COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacted hospital operations, including the availability of personal protective equipment.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverybody who worked in healthcare needed scrub caps and couldn\u2019t get them in town,\u201d Steele said. \u201cSo the auxiliary and a bunch of retired emergency workers cut and sewed 2,500 scrub caps \u2014 and every healthcare worker got three.\u201d<\/p>\n
A quilt currently displayed in the hospital gift shop is being raffled off to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the start of the pandemic. It was made using leftover fabric from those scrub caps.<\/p>\n
Outdoor volunteer opportunities are also available, including maintaining gardens and planters in front of the hospital. All the flowers are donated by Van Roode\u2019s Greenhouses.<\/p>\n
As for the money raised, Steele emphasized an important point: \u201cEvery penny we make \u2014 in every store and through whatever we do \u2014 goes right back into this hospital, except the money to pay the two gift shop employees.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMost recently, we paid for a pediatric defibrillator so that when doctors are operating on children, it monitors their heartbeat and, if anything happens, it alerts the physicians right away and even starts the defibrillation process,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s something we needed desperately, and if it saves one life, it\u2019s worth it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The auxiliary regularly sets and meets fundraising targets.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got $150,000 designated for the cataract surgery clinic,\u201d Page said.<\/p>\n
She also offered a historical perspective.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been interesting,\u201d she said. \u201cThe auxiliary has been an evolving organization. In years gone by, we ran the blood donor clinic. We used to provide staff at the regional clinics. We had flower delivery in the hospital, and when I had my kids, they had carts going through the patient wards selling stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSome of that I\u2019d like to get back \u2014 like the carts,\u201d Steele added.<\/p>\n
Looking at long-term impact, the auxiliary decided during the pandemic to begin supporting second- and third-year healthcare students who want to build careers in northern BC.<\/p>\n
Each year, $50,000 is set aside for 12 bursaries and scholarships, ranging from $1,000 to $5,000.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe offer them at both CNC and UNBC for any student in the medical field in their second or third year, so we know they\u2019re continuing their education,\u201d Steele said.<\/p>\n
In addition to the bursary fund, another stream of fundraising comes from the hospital\u2019s library. Donated books and magazines are sorted and delivered to various areas using a cart, with a donation can for contributions \u2014 often more than 25 cents when people learn the funds go toward student bursaries. A second donation can is located at the thrift store.<\/p>\n
That effort has been remarkably successful, Steele said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd now we have four $1,000 bursaries on top of all the rest,\u201d she added with a smile.<\/p>\n
There is a long, rich history behind the Auxiliary to UHNBC.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd we want to keep it going,\u201d Steele said. \u201cAll we need is more volunteers. The gift shop is desperate for help, and the commitment is just three hours a week \u2014 but some of us do more than that. All the volunteer opportunities are very rewarding.\u201d<\/p>\n