UCSF Kicks Off Annual Tree-Lighting Benefit
San Francisco Police Chief Heather Fong, UCSF Medical Center CEO Mark Laret, and patient Dulce Gutierrez at the Macy's Holiday Tree Kick-Off event to benefit UCSF Children's Hospital.
San Francisco Police Chief Heather Fong, San Francisco Fire Chief Joanne Hayes-White, representatives from Macy's West, and patients attended the official start of the annual charitable event at UCSF. For the third year, Macy's San Francisco is making its annual Holiday Tree Lighting a charitable event to benefit UCSF Children's Hospital, Northern California's center for more than 85 years for extraordinary care and innovative research for children and their families. In addition, Gary Delagnes, from the San Francisco Police Officers' Association, presented a $25,000 check to UCSF Medical Center CEO Mark Laret to benefit UCSF Children's Hospital. To kick off the event, Chief Fong and Chief Hayes-White delivered keynote remarks at a party for the UCSF community. Active community volunteers, the two are serving as honorary co-chairs of the Macy's Tree Lighting-UCSF Children's Hospital fundraising campaign. After the event, they visited some oncology patients who were too ill to attend. Fong and Hayes-White spoke about the support that San Francisco police officers and firefighters have given to UCSF Children's Hospital. In addition, Hayes-White spoke about her own experiences with UCSF Children's Hospital when her son was a patient. Macy's 16th annual tree lighting ceremony will be held on Friday, Nov. 25 (the day after Thanksgiving) from 6 to 6:30 p.m. The event is Macy's annual gift to San Francisco and is free and open to the public. Tree lights can be sponsored at $10 each to illuminate the 80-foot fir tree in Union Square. Every penny of tree-light sponsorship goes to programs that support children with life-threatening illnesses and their families. Tickets will be on sale at Macy's Union Square, at the UCSF Medical Center/UCSF Children's Hospital gift shop on Parnassus Avenue and online. Photo by Myrna Giannoulis Source: Carol Hyman