Vancouver Coastal Health re-embracing tradition of 7 p.m. cheer with festive twist

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) — Vancouver Coastal Health is asking people to light up the sky for the holiday season with cellphones, flashlights, and headlamps — bringing back the 7 p.m. cheer.

Earlier this year, every night when the clock struck seven, cheers filled downtown Vancouver to show support for healthcare workers battling the COVID-19 pandemic.

Cheers for our healthcare workers from balconies across downtown Vancouver tonight. #COVID19 #selfisolation #StayAtHome #FlattenTheCuve @CityNewsVAN @BT_Vancouver @NEWS1130 pic.twitter.com/PrnnAmVz09

— Kyle Donaldson (@donaldsonkyle) March 22, 2020

Suzie Allen Logie, a patient services manager at VGH says with a new initiative dubbed Share the Light — it will bring some much-needed positivity and support for healthcare workers.

“I think we all need a boost. We all need something positive. There is light at the end of the tunnel, with the vaccine released. But we don’t know what the actual journey through the tunnel is going to be like. And I think if we all can participate, it’s just going to make the light all that much brighter for us to reach,” Logie says.

RELATED: Health-care workers applauded every night in Vancouver when clock strikes 7

Rory Richards — who originally kicked off the initiative — says amid the cold dark winter months, using light this time symbolizes hope and optimism.

“It’s been a tough year. 2020 has really kicked our butts. So I think everyone is fatigued and cases are at an all time high. And I think that we just needed something to boost everybody’s spirits and remind us that we’re all in this together. And we’re all relying on each other to be responsible and follow guidelines and get through this,” Richards says.

Logie adds, while the intention of being in medicine is not to be celebrated — hearing the cheers the first time was a humbling experience.

“The fact that people took the time to celebrate us was a really moving experience — very heartfelt. It brought me to tears almost every time,” she says.

“The first time I heard it was when the ambulances, police cars and fire trucks were circling the hospital and I thought some catastrophe actually happened somewhere nearby and then that was the introduction of the 7 p.m. cheer for me.”

If you are shining your lights out your window or cheering Monday– Richards encourages you to share images of you and your family sharing the light by posting it online with either #sevenpmcheer and/or #ShareTheLightBC.

– With files from Lasia Kretzel

Editor’s note: This article has been updated to correct the hashtag for Share the Light.