Community comes together with fierce generosity at Virtual Gala

On Saturday, August 21, 2021, the Georgian Bay General Hospital (GBGH) Foundation hosted its second Power of Giving Virtual Gala, presented by Faris Team Real Estate Brokerage. The goal was to raise $450,000 for the Foundation’s Impact Fund, which helps the hospital address the highest priority needs each year. Thanks to generous business sponsorship, the online auction, sales of the Georgian Bay Bag, and some incredible donations, the record-breaking total was more than $624,000!

The generosity began with four families – Peter & Lynda Wolfhard, the Morneau Family, Ralph & Kathy Befort and the Wolfe Family – who came together to match donations up to a collective $100,000.

A man in a black shirt and white pants with his arm around a grey haired woman in a blue shirt and black pants. The Bay is behind them

A grey haired man in alight blue plaid shirt and women in a a white top with a green scarf with the bay in the background

A smiling woman in white with a blue sweater and a blonde man with a blue and white golf shirt and white pants in a kitchen.

A woman in a pink flowered dress, a man in a grey golf shirt and a young women in a white with blue print dress all standing in front of the bay

This inspired another four donors – Alan & Alison Fryer, Conrad & Donna Huber, Chris Edwards (President & CEO, Weber Manufacturing), and one donor who chose to remain anonymous – to put $100,000 together, which tripled the impact of every donation made to the event.

A man in n white shirt and orange shorts and a woman in a flowered top and white pants in their garden

A woman with short grey hair and a flowered top and a man wearing a purple and blue patterned golf shirt with their arms around each other.

Inspired by the volume of donations and seeing the community come together, philanthropist Marco Mancini added $150,000 to the total, furthering the impact for Georgian Bay General Hospital.

“It was incredible to witness the community come together on Saturday night,” says Gail Hunt, president and CEO, GBGH. “We have some major capital projects that must be completed this year – like the Central Monitoring System, and the implementation of our digital patient record system. These outstanding fundraising results will help ensure we can proceed as planned, putting the best equipment in the hands of the GBGH team to provide safe, high quality care to patients.”

“We are so fortunate to have such a generous community,” says Nicole Kraftscik, executive director, GBGH Foundation. “The collective impact of all the individual gifts – ranging from $5 to $10,000 – was what made the event a huge success. Every gift is so important. We want to say a heartfelt thank you to our match donors, to Marco, to our sponsors, and to everyone who made a donation, bought an auction item or a Georgian Bay Bag. Together, we are ensuring exceptional healthcare for our community!”

You can still watch the Power of Giving Virtual Gala on the GBGH Foundation YouTube channel.

Community comes together with fierce generosity at Virtual Gala

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Jeff Holloway, Director