Season of Celebration: History
20 years of brightening lives and warming hearts
History of the Season of Celebration
Make a donation.
The Season of Celebration campaign began with a single question from the care giving team: “How can we make the Christmas season a little brighter for those in our care who can’t go home for the holidays?”
Today, more than twenty years later, Season of Celebration is a tradition, as treasured as the season it celebrates.
Because of you…Season of Celebration happens year after magical year.
In total more than $3 million has been donated to support a variety of projects including bed check and patient monitoring systems, ventilators, wheel chairs, music therapy programs, ultrasound machines and exercise equipment.
In 2010 funded projects included pressure reducing mattresses, patient gowns, blanket warmers, bedside tables, ultrasound equipment and a new Magnetic Resonance Imaging machine. To learn more about the projects funded by the 2010 Season of Celebration campaign view our grant report.
Season of Celebration History - a year at a glance
- 1990 - Bed Check System
- 1991 - Rehabilitation Research
- 1992 - Rehabilitation Research
- 1993 - Patient Monitoring System
- 1994 - Ceiling Lifts and Patient Dining Room Refurbishment
- 1995 - Specialized medical equipment
- 1996 - Pro-motion wheelchairs and pressure-reducing mattresses
- 1997 - Veterans Memorial Park
- 1998 - Ventilators and music therapy
- 1999 - Driving Assessment Centre and enhancement to Special Care Unit Garden
- 2000 - Pressure-reducing foam mattresses
- 2001 - Refurbishment of the Parkwood Independent Living Unit; Installation of Retractable Awning outside veterans pub
- 2002 - Installation of new radio/television systems
- 2003 - Installation of new patient call system
- 2004 - Therapeutic railroad garden
- 2005 - In the first year of city-wide Season of Celebration, beds and bedside furniture for all locations of St. Joseph's Health Care, London.
- 2006 - Electric wheelchairs and new manual wheelchairs, mammography equipment, exercise equipment and high-low beds.
- 2007 – Electric wheel chairs, ultrasound equipment, exercise equipment, state-of-the-art eye care technology, and other high priority needs.
- 2008 – Ceiling lifts, imaging equipment and pressure-reducing mattresses.
- 2009 – Ceiling lifts, low rise beds, telemedicine equipment, blanket warmers, ventilators and examiniation equipment for the Ivey Eye Institute
Did you know?
While not a traditional holiday colour, Season’s pink lights of caring have a special meaning. They became part of the Season campaign through a piece of artwork created for the launch of the campaign 22 years ago.
Created by Kathryn Naylor, the image depicts a tree at St. Joseph’s Parkwood Hospital decorated for the Christmas Season with twinkling pink lights.
Coincidentally, the pink of the lights also have a connection to the rose candle in the Christian Advent Wreath. Rose is the color for the Third Sunday of Advent, known as Gaudete Sunday from the Latin word "rejoice." Gaudete Sunday anticipates the joy of the Christmas celebration.
