Thousands of Howard County babies and their mothers have relied on an annual display of festival lights for nearly 15 years.
Money raised from the Symphony of Lights has helped Howard County General Hospital?s Maternal Child Health Services grow from a small corner of the hospital to an entire wing, officials said.
“There was a crying need” to increase the department when the festival began, said Susan Boyd, annual giving associate for the Howard Hospital Foundation, which manages the festival.
“It?s good money, and it goes to buy good things,” she said.
The festival costs more than $258,000, and the expected net proceeds for this year?s event are $151,320, Boyd said.
For $20 a car ? $15 with an online coupon ? residents may view 70 animated and stationary light creations, said Valry Fetrow, foundation spokeswoman. The display starts Monday and runs through Jan. 5.
The ward has grown to a 12-bed labor and delivery area and an 18-bed neonatal intensive care unit, said Sheila Donahue, director of obstetric and NICU services at the hospital.
A new center for maternal and fetal medicine opened in July with two full-time perinatologists who specialize in high-risk pregnancies, she said.
“We are growing by leaps and bounds,” Donahue said, adding donations from events, such as the Symphony of Lights in Symphony Woods on Little Patuxent Parkway in Columbia, help sustain that growth and purchase specialty equipment.
But the event isn?t only about raising money, Boyd said. Brochures for the festival and large screens along the route feature information on the hospital?s maternal services, she said.
“They get a little taste of where their contribution goes.”
Poinsettia tree moves from mall to festival
A holiday tradition and Columbia landmark is moving to the Symphony of Lights.
The giant poinsettia tree has been donated to this year?s lights festival benefiting Howard County General Hospital.
The money that would have been spent on buying poinsettias will go to Habitat for Humanity, mall officials said.
The tree form that held the plants will be hung with lights and could one day be adorned with plastic plants, said Susan Boyd, annual giving associate for the Howard Hospital Foundation.
“It lives on,” she said. ? Sara Michael
