The Moose Jaw International Medical Mission is bringing back their Gardens of Guatemala fundraiser, and are still selling tickets for the lush garden tour on July 13.
Jackie Wilson, one of the members of the mission trip, is excited to see the gardens tour return and hopes that Moose Jaw is as well.
Purchase of a ticket grants access to the six private gardens featured on the tour, and a map pinpointing where to find them during the event’s tour time of 10am to 3pm.
“You can go at your own speed and kind of go to each of the garden locations around in Moose Jaw,” said Wilson. “It's kind of a nice way to spend the afternoon.”
Those who participated last year can expect a whole new tour, as all of the gardens are different from last year.
“They're gorgeous, the outdoor spaces are just phenomenal,” said Wilson. “And I think there'll be lots of good ideas for people that are into gardening.”
The event raised around $2,000 last year through ticket sales — since all of the gardens featured on the tour are happy to volunteer their homes for viewing — and all proceeds go towards the group’s mission trip to Guatemala in February 2020.
This will be the fifth year the group has traveled to Panzen, a small city in the mountains, where they provide medical care and surgeries at a hospital, and through day clinics in the surrounding area.
“Our patients that are there, some of them have been waiting for years and years for the opportunity to have surgery,” said Wilson. “There's just not that kind of treatment available in the area, so that's why we choose to go there.”
The mission team is made of volunteer nurses, doctors, surgeons, and handymen giving their time to travel to Guatemala and offer their services. (supplied)They are also taking along two stove teams, who will travel the area to provide families with a safe, efficient stove and clean water filters — the second year they’ve provided this service.
About 35 volunteers are signed up to go on the upcoming trip, and the fundraising goal in order to support the mission is around $55,000. The Gardens for Guatemala event is one of the ways the group takes donations.
People can also donate to the mission through a link on their Facebook page, and they even do a few donation initiatives to connect with their supporters.
People interested can sponsor a surgery with a $100 donation, and the volunteers will bring back photos and a write up about the patient they helped. Similarly, a donation of $300 can sponsor a stove kit for a family and the volunteers will bring back photos of the stove’s new users.
“It's kind of a fun way to kind of share our experience with the people that helped us get there,” said Wilson.
Tickets for the Gardens for Guatemala event are $25 and are available at Hudson’s Boutique, Windmill Greenhouse, or Ellen’s on Main, or by contacting Jackie Wilson at (306) 313-0158.
