The artwork of a Dorothy Lynas elementary student stood out to the panel of judges who selected the image for the Lions Gate Hospital Foundation’s charity Christmas cards this year, the proceeds of which will help fund an expansion of the North Shore Hospice.
Little did the judges know that the winning artist, North Vancouver’s Rosemary Gong, already had a special, personal connection to the hospice.
The panel, which had more than 20 submissions to choose from when picking the winner of the annual contest to illustrate the cards, had no idea that Gong’s mother was a patient in palliative care who had been diagnosed with cancer and ultimately stayed at the hospice. Rosemary only learned of the Christmas card contest when spotting a poster in an elevator in September while visiting her mother at Lions Gate Hospital.
“To be honest, I didn’t really know what it was going to fundraise (for),” said Rosemary. “I just thought, ‘I might want to enter this, I’m pretty artistic so I might have a chance of winning.’
Her painting that adorns the card depicts the Lions Gate Bridge on a winter evening, with the snow-capped North Shore Mountains in the background and a silhouette of Santa’s sleigh flying over the bridge.
The Grade 7 student said she was pleasantly surprised to learn she won the contest last month, and she was able to share the moment with her mother before she passed away.
“She was pretty happy and was like, ‘Wow, you won! Good job,’” recalled Rosemary. “She was showing all the nurses.”
Rosemary said she finds it rewarding that her artwork will help support other patients and families at the hospice who are going through a difficult time like her family recently experienced.
“It’s really cool,” she said. “I’m pretty proud of it.”
Packs of the cards can be purchased at the foundation’s office on the first floor of the hospital, starting at $20 for a dozen.
