The Cariboo Memorial Hospital Auxiliary (CMHA) is celebrating its 100th year in service, first serving the War Memorial Hospital and then the Cariboo Memorial Hospital, which officially opened on Aug. 24, 1962. The volunteers fundraise, donate and purchase supplies for the hospital.
The group - meticulous with its record-keeping of scrapbooks dating back to 1924 - raised $98.55 in its first year. Since then, they have raised over half a million dollars.
Each year, the CMHA asks the hospital to provide them with their prioritized wish list, and the group gets to work, hosting bake sales, silent auctions and more. They also run the hospital’s gift shop on a volunteer basis, with all profits going back into items they can provide the hospital with.
Purchased items include medical equipment, from defibrillators to neo-natal ventilators, to beds and linens. Occasionally, when extra funds are available, a lazy boy for the chemotherapy ward may be upgraded.
The group’s mandate is that everything purchased and donated to the hospital is for the care, comfort and aid of the patients, said Judy Newbery, president of the CMHA. She joined in 2010.
Care and comfort include a birthing chime recently purchased after the maternity ward made the request.
Marg Bublitz, one of the volunteers who joined in 2019, explained how the last time she worked a volunteer shift at the gift shop, the x-ray lab cheered as two chimes went off within ten minutes of each other, meaning two babies had just been born. The chime brings delight to those who notice it, which rings all throughout the hospital.
The CMHA currently has 21 active members and three lifetime members. To be a lifetime member, you must have served for a minimum of 25 years. The three lifetime members are Carol Leckie, who joined in 1979, Eileen Dell, who joined in 1981 and Christina Ford, who joined in 1986.
Newbery and Bublitz both laughed when asked how they joined the CMHA, to which they both responded after meeting with friends to go bowling, a fellow bowler suggested they join.
The CMHA was originally called the Social Circle and began as a group of ladies who met once a month for refreshments and a game of cards in the dining room of one of Williams Lake’s hotels. They began raising funds for the hospital, later changing their name to the Ladies Aid. Not only were they fundraising, but they were making items themselves (surgical towels, patient gowns, baby gowns and more) and doing the laundry for the hospital, which didn’t have its own facility at the time.
They held fashion shows, cabarets, dances, rummage sales and more. All of this is documented in their scrapbooks containing handwritten records of attendance and funds, newspaper clippings, letters and photographs. Elizabeth James is currently maintaining the scrapbooks. Prior to this, lifetime member Leckie was doing this.
The gift shop is open Monday-Saturday. On Mondays and Thursdays, they are open 9:30 a.m. until 4 p.m. The other days they are open from 1-4 p.m.
Not only can people find gifts there but also toiletry items, phone cords, reading glasses and other things one might need for an unexpected overnight hospital stay. Occasionally, one of the volunteers, Verena Berger, shows up on a Sunday to open its doors.
Each year the CMHA provides the number of volunteered hours and money spent on supplies for the hospital to the BC Association of Healthcare Auxiliaries, which reports it to the government to show the need for supplies and how it’s being met.
The CMHA also provides two $1,000 bursaries each year to local high school students continuing their education in the medical field.
The volunteers are hosting a celebration for the CMHA’s 100th anniversary in the City Hall foyer on Saturday, Sept. 16, from 1-3 p.m. People are welcome to join them for cake, tea and coffee. They are also looking for volunteers, men included.
Those wanting to donate to the Auxiliary can do so via cheque made out to the Cariboo Memorial Hospital Auxiliary and mailed to PO Box 4192, Williams Lake, B.C., V2G 2V3.
If you wish to volunteer, please fill out an application form at the hospital’s gift shop or contact Judy Newbery at 250-302-1137.
Want to read more local stories like this? Sign up for the Efteen’s newsletter right to your email. Consider purchasing a subscription to the Tribune to support local journalism for just .99 cents per week!
