Ellie Harvie knows that Peace Arch Hospital’s emergency department is no laughing matter.
The Peninsula-based actor/comedian has visited the ER plenty of times over the past several years with her elderly father, as well as her mother, who passed away in 2005.
So when Harvie was approached by the Peace Arch Hospital and Community Health Foundation about MCing this year’s Partners in Caring Gala, she jumped at the opportunity to lend a hand.
“I’m very familiar with the ER and very familiar with the great work they do, as well as the limitations they face,” Harvie told Peace Arch News. “I’m happy to be a part of any fundraising event that helps to improve it.”
Harvie will be well within her element at the May 2 fundraising gala. She has MCed a number of fundraisers, hosted several awards shows and spoken at various corporate events over her career in the public eye.
Known for her work in numerous movies and television shows – including her role as Morticia on The New Addams Family and, more recently, as Candace/Mrs. Bubkes on YTV’s Some Assembly Required – Harvie is next appearing in a Hallmark network movie-of-the-week series called Aurora Teagarden Mysteries, starring Candace Cameron Bure and Marilu Henner.
With a background in theatre sports – in 1995, she won the Just For Laughs Improv Tournament in Montreal, beating out competitors from around the world – one thing gala attendees can expect next month is plenty of laughs.
“I’m aware that the crowd is a little more conservative than comedy clubs, so I’m going to keep myself in check,” Harvie laughed. “We’re going to have a little fun. What I essentially want to do is shame as many rich people as I can into opening up their wallets.”
The theme of this year’s Partners in Caring Gala is Code Blue for ER – attendees are encouraged to wear formal blue attire – and funds raised will go towards the renovation and expansion of the hospital’s emergency department.
Plans for the expanded ER include doubling the current treatment spaces, with a private triage area, dedicated ambulance entrance and devoted mental-health and pediatric spaces.
As a mother of a seven-year-old boy, Harvie knows that at one time or another, all parents will need to make a trip to the hospital with their little ones.
“With only one pediatric bed, if you have a serious problem, every parent considers driving all the way to Children’s Hospital,” Harvie said. “This improvement will add more pediatric beds.”
Because the emergency department is something that all members of the community may need, Harvie issued a “personal challenge” to those around the Peninsula who know her to buy a table to the gala or make a donation to the ER expansion project.
“To the people who may not have given to this foundation or who may not know about this foundation and how important it is for this ER to be updated to serve the extra 30,000 people that are living here, if you know me and you’re reading this, I challenge you to donate.”
For more information on the Partners in Caring Gala May 2, or to purchase tickets, visit www.pahfoundation.ca or call 604-535-4520.