There’s a new fluffy addition to the Haliburton Highlands Health Services Foundation (HHHSF) family – and executive director, Melanie Klodt Wong, says it’s one of the cutest arrivals yet.
Each year in the lead up to the holidays, the Foundation releases a stuffed animal for sale to the community, with proceeds topping up the annual ‘Believe in the Magic of Giving’ festive fundraiser. A tradition since 1998, the animals have brought in more than $165,000.
Not to be confused with a hedgehog – this year’s stuffy is an as-yet unnamed porcupine. Klodt Wong said an annual naming contest among HHHS staff will wrap up this week.
“We have lots of fun internally – staff throw out names and then whichever name is picked, that person receives a stuffed toy to take home,” Klodt Wong said. “We’ll be announcing the name next week.”
The animal will go on sale Nov. 29. The cost is $25.
Klodt Wong said they make for great stocking stuffers – so too do 50/50 lottery tickets, with sales for the usual big year-end draw already going well. The pot is currently sitting at almost $2,400 with an entire month to go – the deadline to buy is Dec. 30. Last year’s winner walked away with over $11,000, Klodt Wong said.
There are two early bird draws – Nov. 22 and Dec. 15, with winners getting $500. Tickets can be purchased online at hhhsf5050.ca.
Despite recently completing the monthslong ‘Here for You in the Highlands’ campaign to upgrade diagnostic imaging at the Haliburton hospital, an effort that brought in $6.225 million, Klodt Wong said the Christmas push will assist with more day-today things.
“‘Here for You’ was about getting specific equipment we needed to boost services at HHHS and move us forward. We needed CT, we needed these major changes and upgrades in diagnostics, but that’s only part of what we do. We’ve got community support services, long-term care, and hospital services that constantly require support. We can’t lose sight of that,” she said.
The Foundation typically receives a laundry list of ‘wants’ from hospital staff – this year, they will be focusing on specialist equipment for the emergency department in Haliburton, refurbishing rooms at Hyland Crest and Highland Wood long-term care homes and supporting Meals on Wheels and patient transportation.
During the last fiscal year, the Foundation subsidized 4,435 meals to seniors in the community and partially funded approximately 39,000 kilometres worth of trips for patients attending medical and mental health appointments outside of the County.
Klodt Wong said the Foundation is hoping to eclipse last year’s ‘Believe in the Magic of Giving’ total of $250,000.
“We know we need quite a bit to cover some of the equipment we need for the ER. Even basic, smaller things can run $15,000 to $30,000. So, we need to raise a lot more than that,” she said.
With the ‘Here for You in the Highlands’ campaign wrapped, Klodt Wong said all purchases have been made – a new x-ray will arrive in the ER in early 2025, mammography services should be online by the end of January, while a new ultrasound machine was delivered Nov. 18.
