Hundreds of people filled the brand new healing garden on the Bethesda Hospital Grounds for the Gifts of Light Tree Lighting Event Sunday evening.

Garth Reimer is the Board Chair of the Bethesda Foundation. He notes the newly improved healing garden was a stunning location for the annual tree lighting event.

"It is nice to have a multi-season facility instead of just one season. In summertime, the Healing Garden is nothing short of spectacular and it turns out, it is nothing short of spectacular at a Christmas event too. It is very nice to see a site that we have improved used many times."

Reimer says this year they asked Former Mayor Chris Goertzen to be the honourary tree lighter to thank him for his many years of service in Steinbach.

Approximately 500 people attended the event and Reimer says they enjoyed caroling, hot dogs, hot chocolate, horse-drawn wagon rides, and fireworks. He thanks the donors for their amazing support.

"We are very pleased to give to the community with a nice event like this from the foundation. The community is very generous in supporting us so we can do our healthcare projects and work at improving healthcare in the community, so the least we can do is put on a nice event for the community for all of the generosity they have shown to us to allow healthcare projects to happen."

Linda Peters is the Executive Director of the Bethesda Foundation. She says this year they raised over $60,000 during the Gifts of Light campaign and that will all go toward a $4 million commitment they have made to the Resthaven Expansion.