Message from Kyle Shaen
Chair, Board of Directors, Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Foundation
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December is already shaping up to be a great month for healthcare. It’s a natural time for giving, of course, and there are several events going on through the month. It’s also the time of year that many make their tax-deductible donations. A friendly reminder that everyone who gets their donation in by December 31 will receive a tax receipt for 2018! (I’ve included a possible tax-saving tip below.)
Giving Tuesday kicked off the giving season on November 27. What a fantastic fundraising event! We set a fairly ambitious goal of $25, 561 to purchase the new defibrillator for the operating room. I was blown away when I learned that we had surpassed our goal by mid-day thanks to the overwhelming generosity of our donors.
The defibrillator is an extremely important piece of equipment to improve health and safety for our patients. Although cardiac arrest during surgery is rare, it is obviously a serious situation when it does happen. With this new defibrillator located right inside the operating room, the patient’s surgical team can literally shock the heart back to life.
I would like to thank all our donors for helping us achieving our goal so quickly and the Foundation staff who put together such a successful event. By the end of the day, we raised $50,006, almost doubling our initial goal. Thanks to your overwhelming support, we were able to put that money towards other items on our Christmas Wish List including a fetal telemetry monitor for Labour and Delivery. There is still time to make your tax-deductible donation by helping us put one of those items under the tree this year. You can see our whole Christmas Wish List online here: healthsciencesfoundation.ca/wishlist
If you’re currently looking at other year-end giving options, consider donating securities. The reason it’s growing in popularity recently is because neither you nor the organization pays the capital gains tax when the security is sold. That means your donation goes further AND you get a tax receipt for the full value. Talk to your financial planner or tax adviser for more details. I personally know many people who have benefited from this type of charitable gift, so it’s worth learning more.
From all of the board and staff at the Health Sciences Foundation, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! May your holiday season be filled with family, fun, and festivities!
Kyle Shaen
(Don’t forget to choose an item from our Christmas Wish List here: healthsciencesfoundation.ca/wishlist)