Red Deerians gathered Dec. 11th at the Holiday Inn & Suites in Gasoline Alley to hear some exciting news.

This year’s Festival of Trees brought in $1.1 million.

“We have two major portions for this event – the donors and the volunteers. The volunteers always pull through, thousands of hours of works, they do a tremendous job with it, they make a great event but also keep a great bottom line,” said Bob Bilton, board chair of the Red Deer Regional Health Foundation.

The Festival of Trees, the City’s annual kickoff to the holiday season with viewings of beautiful, unique Christmas trees, entertainment and more, celebrated its 25th year. Over its course it has brought in $16.1 million for the hospital.

Manon Therriault, CEO of the Red Deer Regional Health Foundation, said they are so proud to be able to raise funds for the hospital, something Bilton said has not been dealt with properly by the government.

“It’s because of the dedicated volunteers and the generous community members that we’re able to enhance care here at home in Central Alberta,” said Therriault.

“This year the proceeds will be making a difference to multiple units in the hospital by purchasing the Pyxis MedStations for use in emergency, intensive care, the operating room, recovery room, cardiology and other critical areas here at our hospital.”