No one wants to be in the hospital over the holiday season.
Hopefully, the presence of the giant Rockefeller Christmas tree, donated by Murray GM, will lift the spirits of anyone visiting the Dr. F.H. Wigmore Hospital over the holidays.
Wednesday, the 2,900 LED lights were officially turned on the giant Christmas tree in the hospital lobby.
"It really symbolizes, to a lot of people, hope and the spirit of the holiday season -- which is really giving," said Kelly McElree, executive director of the Moose Jaw Health Foundation. "For many patients and their families, they're going through some really difficult times, it's a wonderful feeling -- especially when the kids come in. You see them walking by and they look up and it's 18 feet tall and they've never seen anything like it, especially in Moose Jaw. They've never seen anything quite like this tree and those bright smiles -- to see that on children when they walk in -- it's really delightful."
This is the fourth straight year that Murray GM was the winning bidder for the naming rights for the "Light Up the Holidays Tree" at the Festival of Trees. Murray GM bid $18,500 for the rights and will have the name of their business displayed in the lobby of the hospital throughout the holiday season.
"We're blessed to have the hospital -- not just for Moose Jaw, but for all of the residents in southern Saskatchewan. When you come to this facility it's first-class. It's so fresh and new and exciting," said Charles Vanden Broek, owner and general manager of Murray GM. "For us at the dealership, it's a chance for us to give back. These facilities are always in need of equipment and this allows us to do our small part to help facilitate some of that. It means a lot to us."
The Rockefeller tree is modelled after its famous namesake at Rockefeller Center in New York City. In addition to standing 18 feet high, it is also eight feet wide at its base and has 8,000 branches.
While hospitals can feel cold and antiseptic, having the huge tree prominently displayed adds a little warmth for employees and visitors alike.
"A lot of employees have donated ornaments to us. So there's a little bit of Moose Jaw on every branch of this tree," McElree said. "There's so much on the tree, so people look at it through the day and they notice something different. They notice the owl in the tree or the little puppy or a special ornament that they donated. For the people who put in the long, long hours -- or they had a challenge with a patient -- it brightens their day.
"The tree means so many different things to many different people. A lot of families come in throughout the holidays to look at the tree. That's the spirit behind the tree: to give people hope and make them feel a bit of Christmas throughout the holidays."
The Moose Jaw Health Foundation held its 27th annual Festival of Trees fundraiser in November and have raised more than $4.1 million for equipment at the local hospital in that time.
This year's event raised more than $120,000. The proceeds from the Rockefeller tree will go towards the Foundation's diagnostic imaging campaign to purchase a new digital C-Arm imaging unit that will be used for orthopedic surgery.
"We're really, really thankful for Charles and Murray GM for sponsoring this each and every year. It means a tremendous amount to the foundation and we're very, very thankful for it," McElree said.
