The Innisfail Health Centre Auxiliary celebrated 40 years with a dinner at the Innisfail Library/Learning Centre Oct. 3.
The event, which was attended by many members of the auxiliary and special guests, offered the opportunity to learn about the history of the organization and the hospital.
Donna Chadwick, one of the original members of the group, took the crowd from a time when tents served as a medical centre up to the modern day.
Through that, she covered the history of the auxiliary's efforts to raise money and help at the hospital, from a travelling cart that sold reading materials and items like cigarettes to the modern gift shop that operates today.
“Our biggest sales were always the cigarettes,” she said of the group's first fundraising effort.
A strawberry tea celebrating Florence Nightingale and a beef on a bun fundraiser, along with an annual quilt raffle, are still pillars of the auxiliary's activities today.
Throughout their history they've bought items for the hospital like overhead lifts, electric beds, technical equipment and more. Each year they select what they'll raise money for, Chadwick said.
In the past 10 years alone they've raised about $100,000 for the hospital, she said.
The group has about 52 members currently and is looking for more.
“That's 52 volunteers,” she said.
Mayor Jim Romane brought greetings to the supper, which was supplied by the town in honour of the occasion.
“It's just a huge thing you're doing for the community,” he said. “I don't think I'm wrong in saying each and every one of you could be considered angels.”
Penny Archibald, the Div. 4 councillor at Red Deer County, said the health centre has had some of the best nurses and doctors available.
“We have some of the best still,” she said.
She encouraged the auxiliary to “keep up the good work.”
Many auxiliary members were honoured with service pins from Alberta Health Services as part of the evening.
For more information on the Innisfail Health Centre Auxiliary group, call the gift shop at the hospital at 403-227-7800.
