#CovidCourageYVR

Who

In the first week of the pandemic, two Vancouver-based hospital systems St. Paul’s Hospital and Vancouver General Hospital and their incredible fundraising teams at St. Paul’s Foundation and VGH+UBC Hospital Foundation were brought together by us, to develop #CovidCourageYVR. This campaign was very much a joint effort to respond to the rapidly evolving public health crisis.

What

The intention behind the #CovidCourageYVR Conconi Challenge was to provide early resources to fight the pandemic and aid in the quick response. With an initial donation of $500,000, the #CovidCourageYVR campaign was able to raise approximately $2 million dollars — that is 4x the impact! This multiple would not be possible without the extraordinary donor support at such a critical time — THANK YOU! Also, another huge thank you to all the front line workers in the trenches! The funds raised were used to support safety for health care professionals, ease the overall strain on the healthcare system, and accelerate research and treatment options for COVID-19. Speaking of effective use of resources, we also used our lock down time wisely and developed a video for #CovidCourageYVR for the promotion of the campaign. The Foundation is thankful to all the Conconi family members for their contribution!

Why

At a time of high uncertainty and rapidly changing pandemic circumstances, we recognized our major hospital systems would require quick access to flexible funding for their immediate and emerging needs. The #CovidCourageYVR funding served as a bridge until additional public funds were available and in place.

Wild Card

The wild thing about #CovidCourageYVR was that it came together in the first month of the pandemic and it was the first in Canada zoom-driven fundraising campaign! A big shout out to Section2 video productions for their incredible creativity in helping us mobilize funding, not to mention navigate the zoom learning curve with us!