The Oakville Chinese Realtor Association (OCRA) and the Oakville Hospital Foundation (OHF) co-sponsored an annual charity dinner fundraiser last week, raising more than $17,000.
The charity dinner fundraising event was held at Pearl Oakville Chinese Cuisine, where nearly 60 people, including Chinese Realtors, bankers, and lawyers, attended and generously supported the event.
A bazaar was also held, and the auction was a lively, active event that easily surpassed the original fundraising goal.
On December 4th, some representatives of OCRA completed the cheque delivery ceremony to OHF at the Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital (hereafter: Oakville Hospital). The total amount raised was CAD$17,317, which greatly exceeded the total amount of CAD$7,259 raised in 2022.
Eddie Wang, Secretary of the OCRA, said, "We hope that as Chinese, who make up 10% of the population of Oakville, can through our platform of organizing activities, we can drive more upstream and downstream practitioners and clients to make our matching contribution to the development and construction of our hospital in our city. "
This charity event, held for the second year by OCRA, is designed to raise funds for OHF to meet the priority equipment needs of Oakville Hospital. This year, Oakville Hospital's priority equipment needs stemmed from a shortage of medical equipment for newborns, specifically panda warmers and giraffe incubators.
Stephen Crawford, Member of Parliament of Ontario, came to support the event and delivered a speech. On behalf of the Ontario government and as the Member of Parliament for Oakville, he thanked the OCRA for holding a fundraising event for OHF.
“Without the hard work of this Association, it would be impossible to assist the many wonderful fundraisers in Oakville. It is with my gratitude that I thank the organizers and participants for all your efforts and for making this a wonderful and special event,” Stephen said.
Jennifer McNally, Director of Community Engagement from Oakville Hospital Foundation, commented, “It was an outstanding event!”
"Everything was perfect...the food, the atmosphere, the obvious camaraderie between agents and the professionals that support the work. And we can't forget about the fundraising!" said McNally.
Maggie Shi is a Chinese-Canadian pediatrician at Oakville Hospital. She was on hand to highlight the current use of neonatal medical equipment at the hospital and the shortage of needs that need to be purchased and updated.
