BLOOMFIELD, December 19, 2022 -- The spirit of Christmas was at an all time high at ANDARA Gallery as the gallery owners presented the Prince Edward County Memorial Hospital Foundation with an early Christmas gift.

As part of their annual ‘ODE to JOY’ Art Show and Sale, Tara Wilkinson and Andrew Csafordi, artist-owners of the gallery festively decorated their century-old barn with a stunning 18-foot Christmas tree from Skootamatta Christmas Tree Farm in Flinton, Ontario and welcomed local residents and visitors alike for the third consecutive year to visit their barn for a “Holiday Photo in the Barn”.

Over 600 guests brought their cameras and the staff and volunteers took the photo in exchange for a donation to the PECMH Foundation’s Back the Build campaign. The fundraiser ran from November 12 until December 18, 2022.

Individuals, couples, families, work colleagues and groups of friends came to the barn for a photo - raising $7,500 for the campaign to build a new hospital in Prince Edward County - bringing their three-year total raised to $23,302.50…with over 2,000 visitors and pets photographed to date!

A highlight of the event was when Nadia Knarr and Paul Bastiaanssen from Noble Beast Farms brought their lovely alpacas to ANDARA Gallery to participate in the photo shoots on December 10th and 17th.

“We were happy to provide such a joyful experience for our community that brought people together to create happy memories while raising money for the new hospital campaign,” said Wilkinson. We are indebted to our friends and neighbours who helped us with this year’s event … and to the hundreds of people who came to have a festive photo taken in our beautiful century-old barn. Many happy holiday memories were made here again this season.”

“Thank you to Tara and Andrew of ANDARA Gallery and everyone who supported this event. Every donation, no matter the size, makes a difference in the care you and your family will receive in our new hospital,” said Nancy Parks, Back the Build campaign co-chair. “We are extremely grateful to everyone who supported this festive fundraiser again this year as we work to modernize and enhance health care services to ensure people living in and visiting our community continue to have access to care close to home.”

ANDARA Gallery is a contemporary art gallery showcasing fine art paintings and photography year-round in the heart of Prince Edward County. ANDARA Gallery plans to continue this holiday tradition next year and thanks everyone for sharing in this joyful experience. Many of the photos taken this year can be seen on their homepage slideshow at andaragallery.com and on Facebook and Instagram at #andaragallerypec.

The Prince Edward County Memorial Hospital Foundation is a charitable organization dedicated to raising funds to advance health care for the patients of the hospital and the people of Prince Edward County.

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Photo: Pictured at ANDARA Gallery from left: Artist-owners Tara Wilkinson and Andrew Csafordi; Shannon Coull, executive director of the PECMH Foundation; Barbara McConnell, chairperson of the PECMH Foundation; Sally Cowan, Back the Build campaign cabinet member and Nancy Parks, Back the Build campaign chairperson.