Local elementary school students’ artwork is featured on Christmas cards that will help to support initiatives at Royal Columbian Hospital.
Royal Columbian Hospital Foundation, in partnership with Save-On-Foods, recently launched a colouring contest in local elementary schools. Students were asked to draw a picture under the theme of Celebrate the Holiday Season.
“Because of the creative, inspired drawing by these students, we will have amazing holiday cards that will raise money for the Royal Columbian Hospital Foundation,” said Lizz Kelly, the foundation’s manager of events. “They have helped so many patients here at the hospital, and we thank them for their kindness and creativity.”
Mayor Patrick Johnstone, Royal Columbian Hospital Foundation CEO Jeff Norris, and Phil Miscio and Heidi Stirling – managers of two of the Save-On-Foods stores in New West – recently gathered to select the design that would grace a holiday card. It was a tough job selecting one card out of the 74 entries.
“It was wonderful to participate in selecting the winning drawings. There were so many great entries that we had a hard time choosing a single winner, and the judged decided to select five, and the cards will be sold in a verity pack of five,” Johnstone said. “This is a fun way to raise funds for the RCH Foundation and for the community to help them in their effort to assure RCH is the best-equipped and supported health-care centre possible.”
Students at three schools entered the contest – Hebert Spencer, Connaught Heights and Skwo:wech elementary schools. All five winning entries came from École Herbert Spencer Elementary, where contest forms were placed in the library, and students were encouraged to take them home and return their entries to the school when they were complete.
The winning drawings of the Celebrate the Holiday Season are: Ashna Mathur, 7, (Mr. Grewal’s class); Paige Quizon, 10, from (Mme. Copleys Class); Garrett Bayer, 8, Freya Pan, 8, and Santiago Stephen, 9 (all from Ms. Hare’s class).
The students’ artwork will be featured on holiday cards that will be sold as a set of five for $10. The cards will soon be available in all three Save-On-Foods locations in New West – Columbia Square Plaza, Brewery District in Sapperton and Royal City Centre.
“All funds raised from the sale of these cards will be donated to the Royal Columbian Hospital Foundation. In purchasing holiday cards, you can support RCH’s staff and physicians in providing them with the necessary tools to provide the very best care to patients,” Kelly said in an email to the Record. “Royal Columbian is a major critical hospital and referral centre for cardiac care, trauma, neurosciences, mental health, high-risk maternity and neonatal intensive care. No other hospital in the province provides all of these services, at this level of care, on one site.”
According to Kelly, this is the first time the contest has been held – and the plan is to make it an annual event.
