Celebrating National Volunteer Week with our WCH volunteer community!

2019-04-09 4:03:09 PM

WCHF Board of Directors 

During National Volunteer Week, Women’s College Hospital Foundation (WCHF) is celebrating the generous philanthropic achievements of our diverse and dedicated volunteer community. Made up of Foundation volunteers, including our board of directors, advisory council and committee volunteers, as well as members of the WCH Association of Volunteers, our volunteer community provides invaluable support as we work together to achieve Women’s College Hospital’s mission and vision to revolutionize healthcare for women and for all.

When it comes to fundraising, volunteers have played an integral role in helping to raise vital dollars for the hospital’s priority needs throughout the decades. From grassroots efforts to raise money for supplies and equipment to leadership of full-fledged building campaigns, the generous spirit of the WCH volunteer community is woven into the very fabric of this institution.

In fact, over the past century, the hospital’s Association of Volunteers alone has raised over $5 million toward the most pressing needs of WCH, including numerous equipment items. This year, the Association has a goal to raise the funds needed to support the purchase of additional life-changing medical equipment for Women’s College Hospital. If you would like to make a gift in support of the Association of Volunteers’ fundraising efforts, please visit their fundraising page here.  


Association of Volunteers Executive Team

In celebration of National Volunteer Week, we are delighted to share with you a selection of images that showcase the rich philanthropic history of WCH volunteers. These are just some of countless examples throughout our history of how our volunteer community has come together to support Women’s College Hospital.

From all of us at Women’s College Hospital Foundation, thank you to our extraordinary volunteers – past, present and future – for your dedication to helping revolutionize healthcare for women and for all!

A look back at WCH's Association of Volunteers 


1915: WCH’s first auxiliary is formed at 125 Rusholme Road.


1922: Volunteers purchase a potato peeler and a butter cutter for WCH’s kitchen.​


1935: The volunteers furnish and equip the obstetrical floor and nurseries in WCH’s new building at 76 Grenville Street.


1940: Volunteers donate laundry equipment to hospital at a cost of $1000.​


1950: Volunteers purchase a new refrigerator for the nurses’ cafeteria.​


1957: The installation of the modern operating room theatre light was made possible by a donation from the volunteers.


1961: Four new microscopes are purchased by the volunteers for WCH’s labs.​


1965: Volunteers donate over $12,000 worth of x-ray equipment to WCH.


1966: The volunteers spent $6,000 refurnishing the nursing school’s library.


1974: The volunteers donated over $27,000 in equipment to WCH this in year including medical equipment for the operating rooms and the hospital’s blood bank.​


1981: Just as WCH’s Perinatal Intensive Care Unit was declared Canada’s first Regional High-Risk Pregnancy Unit, the volunteers purchase equipment in support of babies in the NICU.


1986: 70% of all funds raised by the volunteers in 1986 was directed towards furniture and equipment of Ontario’s first Urgent Care Centre soon to be open at WCH.


1994: The volunteers purchase a GE Advantx R/F imaging machine for the Radiology Department.​


2003: The volunteer fund WCH’s Integrated Operating Room at a cost of $400,000.​


2007: Volunteers pledge $1 million towards WCH’s capital campaign (new building)