May 12, 2021
Katrina Black, President and CEO for the Sturgeon Community Hospital Foundation, has been with the foundation for nearly 25 years. She began her career in healthcare philanthropy as a way of giving back after a close family member received care at the Sturgeon Community Hospital.
Story by Amelia Schofield | Photo by Evan Isbister
Alberta Health Services recognizes May as Health Philanthropy Month. Throughout the month, we will be celebrating our philanthropic partners who raise funds for healthcare across the province.
The Faces of the Foundations profile series will introduce you to individuals who lead healthcare philanthropy across Alberta. This week, we are pleased to profile Katrina Black, President and CEO with the Sturgeon Community Hospital Foundation.
Why did you get involved with the Sturgeon Community Hospital Foundation?
I became involved with the foundation because I wanted to thank the Sturgeon Community Hospital. They took such amazing care of a close family member of mine, and I wanted to show my gratitude. I started in a volunteer position for a year and then I came on as staff. The foundation started in 1992, and I joined in 1996, so it has been great to see it grow over the years to where it is now.
Why is healthcare philanthropy important to you?
Healthcare philanthropy is important to me because it truly affects everybody. By supporting a foundation, we can evoke meaningful change. That is the most exciting thing to me.
We support a smaller hospital, but we can still provide the very best care here and keep people here, without having to send them to Edmonton. There is certainly a time and place for that, but the Sturgeon Community Hospital does such amazing work here. Not everyone realizes how great this hospital is. Its services help so many people, and everyone can make a difference by showing their support.
What are some of the foundation’s accomplishments that you’re most proud of?
Like many foundations, COVID-19 has posed several challenges for our normal fundraising activities. One of our signature events, A Night Under the Stars Friend Raiser Gala, was cancelled last year due to the pandemic. We typically have more than 700 guests attend this event, and it raises significant funds for medical equipment and services at the hospital.
However, with the support of local businesses, we were able to offer the Stars Box Experience instead. Through this initiative, we invited our donors and community members to purchase customizable meal boxes, which featured a variety of products from local vendors, that they could use for a night in. The boxes were highly successful and we saw an 89-per-cent increase in new donors who took part, which was exciting for us.
We also had a highly successful direct-mail campaign over the holidays, where we saw a 221-per-cent increase in new donors and a 71-per-cent increase in the number of donors who chose to support us again.
Despite the challenges over the last year, we are so thrilled with the support we are seeing and are grateful to everyone who has generously contributed to our foundation.
What initiatives are coming up at the Foundation?
We’re going to have the Stars Boxes available again this fall. We want it to be a completely separate event from our A Night Under the Stars Friend Raiser Gala now — and we’re going to have the boxes available in the fall and the spring.
We’re also going to start hosting a number of 50/50 raffles. Our goal is to raise significant funds through these raffles that we can use for emerging needs at the hospital.
How can Albertans support the Foundation?
One way Albertans can help is by sharing your stories, because it is so impactful to our donors. By sharing your stories, you help us spread the word of the great work that is done at the Sturgeon Community Hospital and inspire others to support the care provided here.
See more information on the Sturgeon Community Hospital Foundation.
