Yarmouth Hospital Foundation

Maple Grove students STOMP over to Yarmouth Hospital Foundation with a generous donation!

When Grade 8 students — now graduates — Leila Ben Mohamed and Chris Coggins arrived at the Yarmouth Hospital Foundation office at the Yarmouth Regional Hospital to present a cheque for $759.15, the Maple Grove students were excited to share how they came to raise the money and why they chose to donate to the foundation. They were part of STOMP, a pilot project aimed at helping students in grades 7 to 12 develop an understanding of the factors influencing tobacco use and vaping and the consequences.

STOMP stands for Students Together Moving to Prevent Tobacco Use, explained faculty adviser and Grade 7 teacher Max Taylor. The group consists of student council members, athletes and kids who have experienced vaping themselves. Vaping is pretty common among students especially in the bathrooms, Leila and Chris agree. Smoking not so much. Kids perceive that vaping is a healthier alternative to smoking and don’t appreciate the dangers, their teacher pointed out. It’s more accessible and “you’re not walking around smelling of it.”

“It’s a program where you’re helping the community, you’re helping kids and your friends be aware of vaping and it’s a powerful message,” said Chris.

Leila explained that they made presentations to each class, followed by making posters inspired by the STOMP message. Leila and another student, Faith Lewis, were interviewed about STOMP on Y95. They also had donation jars in each classroom, Chris added. “If you raised a certain amount of money, Mr. Taylor would get pied in the face.” He wasn’t the only teacher to volunteer to get up close and personal with a whipped cream pie. And there’s video — lots of video!

Chris said the program has had a good response and made at least one convert. A friend of his stopped after hearing their presentation.

“We chose the foundation to donate to because most people affected by smoking or vaping have to come to the hospital if they are having problems,” Leila said. “Everyone needs the hospital one time or another.”

“We love to see donations from student groups and schools,” said foundation managing director Mary Surette. “We really appreciate their generosity at a young age. A huge thank you to these extraordinary young people!”

Maple Grove is one of about a dozen test locations across Canada for STOMP, an initiative of Physical Health and Education Canada. The two-year pilot project was launched at Maple Grove for the 2022-23 school year.

YHF AGM 2023

The Annual General Meeting for Yarmouth Hospital Foundation will once again be held virtually, on Tuesday, June 13th, 2023 at 5:00pm via ZOOM.

Yarmouth Hospital Foundation is pleased to support Virtual Care @ Yarmouth Hub. Please join us and our guest speakers to learn more about this new exciting project that provides assistance to those who need help accessing virtual care.

For more information and to register: 902-749-1669 or info@yarmouthhospitalfoundation.ca

Everyone is welcome to attend, however, only members are eligible to vote. Eligible voters/members are those individuals who have made a donation since last year’s AGM.

Yarmouth Hospital Foundation Christmas Appeal was a great success: Thank you!

The Christmas Appeal in support of Medical Device Reprocessing (and additional urology services) was a great success!THANK YOU: Once again we at YHF are in awe of our donors and are delighted to announce that the Christmas Appeal in support of Medical Device Reprocessing (and additional urology services) was a great success!

Yarmouth Regional Hospital will gain the capacity for low-temperature sterilization! This means that, for example, our urologists will be able to offer a 10-minute cystoscope procedure that patients in the Tri-Counties previously have had to travel to Kentville or Bridgewater to undergo. Imagine the relief for these patients!

Our regional hospital touches the lives of many individuals and families from the Tri-County region every single day of the year. Health care equipment is expensive, and the technology is continually updating. Your donations, like the ones that funded this V-Pro Low Temp Sterilizer for Medical Device Reprocessing, continue to provide our care teams with the essential tools they need to provide the best care possible in keeping our families and our community healthy.

Hometown Hero Graves cares about Yarmouth Regional Hospital

It was a busy July afternoon at the Mariners’ Centre, on and off the ice, when the small group from Yarmouth Hospital Foundation finally made their way around more than a hundred students with hockey sticks to connect with NHLer Ryan Graves. The plan was to make good on a winning bid from the WE CARE Radiothon auction held all the way back in February and everyone was excited to do it.

One of the items listed for our inaugural WE CARE Radiothon Auction was a hockey jersey signed by Ryan Graves— an item that came with a small leap of faith. The shirt wasn’t signed back in February, and the winner would have to wait until the summer to meet Graves and get the shirt signed then. Winning bidder Dr. Brian Moses was content with the conditions and only too happy, once summer came, to collect.

Graves, fresh off his first season with the New Jersey Devils and representing Team Canada in the World Hockey Championship, was back in his hometown to run the Ryan Graves Hockey School — a weeklong hockey summer camp program like the ones he grew up going to, or like the ones that Jody Shelley previously hosted. “I would like to follow in his footsteps for doing good things here,” said Ryan. “I’m super proud of being from here. The community is awesome here.”

The Ryan Graves Hockey School is his way of giving back to the local community and he was only too happy to take a little time out to support Yarmouth Regional Hospital. “It’s awesome to get home and to support my hometown, for sure,” Ryan said, meeting with Dr. Moses to sign and hand over the jersey. “The hospital helps everyone so it’s a big positive to get to help raise money for them.”

Thanks again for your support, Ryan! We wish you the best for your upcoming season!

Help us win $20,000 through the Great Canadian Giving Challenge!

Every dollar that you donate to Yarmouth Hospital Foundation through CanadaHelps from June 1st to 30th, 2022, is an entry into a draw for us to win $20,000 that we could put into your regional hospital! “Every $1 donated gives your favourite charity the chance to win so the more you give, the greater the chances your charity has to WIN the grand prize!”

The Great Canadian Giving Challenge coincides perfectly with our Spring Appeal, so we’re pretty thrilled. It’s a great time to encourage the generosity of the Tri-County area towards Yarmouth Regional Hospital, and $20,000 would be a wonderful boost for us. In fact, it would be such a great boost that we’ve decided to sweeten the pot for you, our donors, and have our own draw.

Every donation received by Yarmouth Hospital Foundation through CanadaHelps from June 1st to 30th will get you entered into a draw at the end of the month to win… a prepaid VISA card loaded with $250!  It’s win/win! What would you do with an extra $250 in your pocket?

And what would we do with an extra $20,000 in ours? Well, our Spring Appeal is raising funds towards two multiparameter monitors for you regional hospital’s Emergency Department — those are $37,500 each — so this extra $20,000 means we would be halfway towards purchasing one of these, or maybe even a third monitor for your ED! How exciting is that?

 

What do you think? Do you feel lucky? https://www.canadahelps.org/en/charities/yarmouth-hospital-foundation/

2022 YHF AGM

As a public health precaution, the Annual General Meeting for Yarmouth Hospital Foundation will once again be held virtually, on Tuesday, June 14th, 2022 at 5:00pm via ZOOM. Everyone is welcome to attend, however, only those individuals who have donated to the Foundation since last year’s AGM are eligible to vote.

For more information and to register phone 902-749-1669 or email info@yarmouthhospitalfoundation.ca

 

National Volunteer Week graphic

Celebrating our volunteers

From April 24 to 30, 2022 Yarmouth Hospital Foundation and Volunteer Canada celebrate Canada’s 24 million volunteers during National Volunteer Week (NVW).

This annual celebration is a time to thank and recognize volunteers from coast to coast to coast. This year’s theme Volunteering is Empathy in Action highlights how this profoundly human connection is at the heart of healthier individuals and stronger communities.

Where would we be without our volunteers? Yarmouth Hospital Foundation is fundamentally rooted in the generosity and empathy of our all-volunteer Board of Directors and has been lucky enough to be supported by an army of volunteer partners-in-healthcare through all our events, past and present. Our donors and our volunteers are the heart and the hands of the Foundation, and this week, we just want to take a moment to express our gratitude for all of you and all that you do. Through your care and collaboration, we are building up our hospital to be a regional centre of excellence in health care.