As every Vancouverite knows, it鈥檚 not officially the Christmas season until St. Paul鈥檚 turns on the lights.
The downtown hospital officially flipped the switch Thursday night, lighting up Burrard Street with its annual Christmas light display, kicking off its annual fundraising campaign and recognizing the many donors that have contributed to improving patient care.
Last year, Lights of Hope set a new record with more than $2.5 million raised for St. Paul鈥檚 Hospital.
"My hope for St. Paul's is that [we] serve the community, care for the disadvantaged, and make sure that we relieve the suffering and pain of our patients, to give our patients more breath, more life,鈥� said Dr. Don Sin, St. Paul鈥檚 head of respiratory medicine in a press release.
Since 1998, St. Paul鈥檚 has put up the Lights of Hope display to inspire the community to show their support for the hospital. Today, Lights of Hope is a holiday tradition that brings hundreds of thousands of visitors to St. Paul鈥檚 to see the display.
The display is built by hundreds of volunteers using donated materials 鈥� including 10 kilometres of lights!
According to BC Hydro, despite its size and scope, Lights of Hope uses very little energy. A big part of this energy efficiency is the use of LED bulbs, which account for 60 per cent of the lights.
Every donation counts, and sometimes it鈥檚 the little things that provide the greatest comfort, like new pyjamas for patients, blankets and blood pressure monitors.
Donors to Lights of Hope have helped support everything from the development of booklets to put colorectal cancer patients in control of their own care to groundbreaking research at the internationally-renowned Centre for Heart Lung Innovation (HLI).
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Enhancements to St. Paul鈥檚 renal unit made it possible for caregivers to continue to provide leading treatment to an ever-increasing number of patients and their families. Donors to Lights of Hope made gifts in-will and in memory to complete these urgently needed upgrades.
To learn more about how you can support Lights of Hope, please contact St. Paul鈥檚 Foundation at 604-682-8206, or visit
