KIMBALL -- The Kimball Hospital Foundation is kicking off the 34th annual Holiday Spirit fundraising campaign this week to help the hospital pay for needed medical equipment. 

Kimball and area residents will receive letters in the mail that will include a pledge card, inviting them to leave a donation in memory of a departed loved one, said Kerry Ferguson, Director of the Foundation. 

For anyone wanting to donate, you will fill out the “Gift of Love” card with your name and your loved one’s name and send it back to the Foundation. 

“This is just another way for people to be able to support the hospital; a lot of times people have a loved one in mind that they'd like to give a memorial to, and this is just another way to recognize that person,” Ferguson said. “Some people do it on an annual basis and give a gift year after year to the Foundation in their loved ones names; it’s one of our better fundraisers, and we really appreciate everyone’s support that want to leave a gift to the hospital in memory of a loved one.” 

Donations of any amount are welcome, he said. 

Cards returned to the Foundation will be displayed near the Christmas tree in the hospital lobby. Gifts of $100 or more will also be recognized on the Foundation’s new digital donor display board. 

Like all donations to the Foundation, contributions from the Holiday Spirit campaign go toward purchasing medical equipment for Kimball Health Services. 

“We’re always upgrading the equipment and don’t have anything in particular that we’re targeting right now, but there are requests that come through all the time, and we really appreciate everyone’s help to keep that equipment as current as possible,” Ferguson said. 

The Foundation has given more than $2.9 million in support of the hospital since 2004 that has come from investment income and fundraising efforts such as golf tournaments, casino night fundraisers, bowling tournaments, and the Holiday Spirit campaign. 

Recent purchases that were made possible by donations to the Foundation are the hospital’s new ultrasound machine, two EKG machines, and the new equipment in the Rehabilitation Department. 

The Holiday Spirit campaign runs throughout the holiday season and typically wraps up in January. 

Residents who for some reason do not receive a Holiday Spirit letter in the mail but would like to participate, call the Foundation at 308-235-1967.