More than 8,000 children will get their photos taken with Santa this holiday season at Coquitlam Centre.
And every one of them will do a good deed in the process.
After telling old Claus what's on their Christmas wish lists, the children will get a paper heart and a chance to write their names in support of a campaign to improve children and family facilities at Eagle Ridge Hospital.
By Christmas Eve, when Santa departs with his elves to bring toys and good cheer to kids around the world, the mall's Santa Land will be papered with hearts and a $25,000 cheque will be handed over to ERH foundation executive director Charlene Giovannetti-King.
This week Giovannetti-King and ER doctor Peter MacDonald visited Santa Land, and though they didn't sit on the St. Nick's knee, they did get confirmation from mall management that the money is, as they say, in the bag.
"This is great news," MacDonald said, as he explained the importance of having a specialized room for children to get treatment and privacy when difficult diagnoses or information must be shared.
"It will be much better than what we have," he said, noting that ER at Eagle Ridge sees more children as a percentage of the patient population than does Royal Columbian Hospital, the region's major trauma centre in New Westminster. "It used to be the other way around."
Coquitlam Centre general manager Franca Aere said this will be the third year of the Holiday Hearts program and the first time funds from $1 for every child visiting Santa will be put towards a single local group. Pensionfund Realty Ltd., which owns the mall, will contribute the remainder of the funds to make up the $25,000 total.
"I think it's a good way to give back to the community," Aere said.
The funds couldn't come at a better time as the hospital is seeing more patients come through the ER than ever before. Both the pediatric room and the family room need sprucing up. As well, the hospital needs an infant weight scale, a crib, pediatric thermometers and stethoscopes, hydration kits, children's gowns, washable toys, a treatment stretcher, a colour-coded treatment cart and opthalmoscopes, and mall merchants will also be asked to donate toys and other amenities for the room.
But Deborah Stetz, the mall's marketing director, said the Holiday Hearts program will serve another purpose by reminding the children the importance of philanthropy.
"It feels like they're making a donation when they visit Santa," Stetz said, adding that it's never to early to learn that giving can be just as rewarding as receiving.
