A partnership between St. Joseph’s Hospital Foundation and McDonald’s Estevan has now come to an end after a year-long campaign.
The restaurant had committed to donating a portion of sales from their McCafé coffee to the hospital foundation to assist with the funding of new equipment for St. Joseph’s Hospital.
The commitment ran from June 2020 to the end of May 2021, with a goal of $20,000 to be raised. The goal has officially been reached with a total of $20,406 being donated to the local hospital.
All funds raised throughout this campaign will now be used to make a major upgrade to the hospital. McDonald’s Estevan, the Jenish family and the St. Joseph’s Hospital Foundation are very excited to start a revitalization campaign on the Family Room located in the maternity unit at the hospital.
The family room will become a newly upgraded area that provides comfort and hope for families that are currently welcoming new life to the world or families with children admitted at the hospital.
The area will soon feature murals on the walls that will be created by Grade 5-8 students from all schools in Estevan, Bienfait, Midale and Macoun. Each mural will represent the students’ communities and the features that are important in their hometowns.
“We wanted to find a way to really feature all of the communities and students that utilize our hospital right here at home. We have so many different communities that support us, and so we wanted to ensure that we were able to feature them in a creative way in this newly upgraded space,” said Breanne Van De Woestyne, executive director at St. Joseph’s Hospital Foundation.
The artwork will be collected through a poster contest that will launch in September.
The new space will also see upgrades to furniture and new toys and games for children to utilize while they are at the hospital.
“We really want to upgrade this space to become a welcoming and positive environment. Our maternity unit sees so much excitement, hope and sometimes loss, and if we can do anything to make this experience even a little better, then we will be successful,” said Van De Woestyne.
Supporting the family room in the maternity unit is something very important to McDonald’s Estevan and the Jenish family.
“As a family business, we wanted this fundraiser to be able to support more families in our community. Since owning this restaurant, we have held countless fundraisers for organizations in the area including the Ronald McDonald House in Saskatoon, and this fundraiser was a great way to build on what we’ve done in the past while supporting people in this community,” said Chris and Tim Jenish, owners of McDonald’s in Estevan.
Upgrades to the new space will take place beginning this fall with hopes of it officially opening by the end of 2022.
