All the stars were out Saturday night for the Belleville General Hospital Foundation’s “A Night at the Oscars” Gala. Over 300 guests came out to mark the 20th anniversary event. It surpassed all other galas by raising a record-setting half a million dollars. The event was made possible by title sponsors McDougall Insurance and Financial and TD Wealth and TD Bank Group.
Honorary Chair Ross McDougall was involved with BGHF when the gala first started. McDougall says “Unless we have these events and raise this money, we can’t buy the equipment that we need for the hospital. If we don’t have the equipment, then we don’t have an up-to-date hospital and if we don’t have an up-to-date hospital, we can’t attract the doctors and the technicians and the people we need to attract.”
(Photo: BGH Foundation)
Co-sponsor Jennifer Tretina-Nelson explains what got her involved in the gala. “Everyone you meet has been touched by cancer in one way or another. The fact that the community came together to raise money for equipment that is key in diagnosing cancer says it all. Quinte is a community that cares. They proved that in a big way tonight.”
Guests raised their paddles and donated a phenomenal $382,000 during the Fund a Need portion of the event to help purchase two new Spect CT cameras for Nuclear Medicine at BGH. BGHF Executive Director Steve Cook was thrilled with the response from the community. Cook says, “We have been sharing the news about this priority project over the past few months. We are overwhelmed by the support of the community who recognize the need for leading edge diagnostics. These donations tonight help to ensure cancer staging assessments happen right here in Belleville.”
