With the festive season underway it’s easy to get lost in the list of things to get through before a well- deserved break.

But just for a moment I invite you to reflect on some of the things that your support of the Coast’s local hospital foundation has helped us achieve this past year.

With the help of our dedicated team of volunteers we’ve provided more than 836 nights of home-away-from-home care at Reed House - for families as far away as Rockhampton and western Queensland.

We’ve worked with Ausmar Homes and their contractors and suppliers to build another home for families who need to be closer to the Sunshine Coast University Hospital (SCUH). The House the Coast Built is almost complete and will be open for families by March next year.

We celebrated the power of a truly exceptional community when 92.7 Mix FM’s Give Me 5 for Kids again surpassed all expectations in raising $500,644 for local paediatric needs – in just one month!

We’ve spent $747,353 on extra medical equipment and therapy services, the education of local health staff and local research projects that make a real difference in our local hospitals and Health Centres.

We’ve committed another $768,779 to projects yet to roll out across our Health Service including a Rehabilitation Garden and Paediatric Emergency Room at Gympie Hospital, and a sensory distraction room for dementia patients at Nambour Hospital’s Acute Restorative Care Unit (ARC).

We’ve received countless letters from grateful families whose sick little ones have laughed for the first time in a long while at the antics of a Clown Doctor, or whose loved one found a moment of joy in a memory evoked by a visit from Tracie Wicks, our Music Therapist at the Dove Palliative Care Unit at Caloundra Hospital.

We’ve helped thousands of local doctors, nurses, administrative and allied health workers provide exceptional care to local families (including mine) at a time when they’re at their most vulnerable.

On that note I’d like to say that I couldn’t be more grateful for the care my family received from our Health Service this year. From the care we received from clinicians, nursing and administrative staff, to the help of the dedicated volunteers who helped us every step of the way – we feel so lucky to live where we do. Ironically, my family relied on similar equipment to that which had initially been provided by Wishlist many years ago through our “Give Us a Buck for an EBUS” campaign, used the gym equipment donated by Wishlist to the Exercise Physiology gym in the Adem Crosby Centre, and received a beautiful handmade quilt donated by Sunshine Coast Linus that is treasured to this day.

We’re so grateful to you, our generous supporters, because all of this is only possible because individuals like you choose to support your local hospital foundation.

We hope you take great pride in what you’ve done for countless families, and individuals this year through your support of Wishlist.

Merry Christmas to you and your loved ones and may the year ahead be one of good health and happiness for you all.

Lisa Rowe
Wishlist CEO