The Rotary Club's Feast For a Cause event has raised $18,000 for a Tier Three Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) in Cranbrook.
Money will support the East Kootenay Foundation For Health's 'Warm Embrace Campaign', which seeks to raise money for a NICU at East Kootenay Regional Hospital that will support newborns in critical condition through intubation, incubation and oxygen support.
The hospital does not currently have a proper space to care for babies born prior to 35 weeks, and families must be air lifted to Kelowna or Kamloops to access proper services, which proves costly and burdensome in the long-run.
A country music festival, running July 15 at the Fernie Demolition Grounds, will be adding to the fundraiser pot for the NICU, with performances from Meghan Patrick, JoJo Mason, Aaron Pritchett, Kelly Prescott, Jason Blaine, and Chad Brownlee. The event was organized by Bearspaw Community First, Kootenay East Regional Hospital District, The Festival Company, East Kootenay Foundation for Health and the provincial government, and aims to raise $1.8 million for the cause.
