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Greater Victoria hospital heroes receive hampers ahead of Thanksgiving weekend

200 goodie packages sent to hospital departments on Oct. 8 in show of gratitude

Greater Victoria’s hospital heroes received a Thanksgiving treat on Friday for their ongoing efforts.

The show of gratitude saw 200 Thanksgiving hampers go out to hospital staff and every department working over the holiday weekend at Royal Jubilee, Victoria General and Gorge Road hospitals.

Avery Brohman, executive director of the Victoria Hospitals Foundation, said the idea was spurred by donors hoping to treat the hospital staff.

“We can let our care teams know that we’re thankful for them and they can have something to look forward to this weekend as they take care of us,” she said. “It was a clear message we wanted to send – we see you, we thank you, we value you.”

The baskets are filled with fresh fruit and veggies from Islands West Produce and an array of baked goods and foods made by Jones Bar-B-Que.

Hospital staff have been donning layers of protective equipment and haven’t got a break over the last 18 months, Brohman said.

“COVID has placed an incredible stress on all of our hospitals and all of our healthcare workers,” she said. “Knowing that we could just bring a smile to their faces, that’s truly what we wanted to accomplish today and we can do that because of our generous community.”

One of the donors who helped make the hampers possible was Barb McKerrell, who said the hamper initiative spoke to her because it included giving back to all the hospitals’ departments.

“Since the pandemic is not over, it’s really important to me that we continue supporting and thanking all of our hospital teams,” the Oak Bay resident said.

Jones Bar-B-Que and The Ruby owner Chris Jones said it was a worthy challenge to help with the hampers as they’re also preparing to give out around 500 Thanksgiving meals this weekend.

“Supporting the healthcare workers, it was just something we really wanted to do,” he said. “This city has been very supportive of Jones Bar-B-Que and The Ruby. We think it’s important to give back to the community because it’s the community that supports our business.”

READ: Our Place Society Thanksgiving meal creates bonds of family, despite lack of volunteers


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Jake Romphf

About the Author: Jake Romphf

In early 2021, I made the move from the Great Lakes to Greater Victoria with the aim of experiencing more of the country I report on.
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