Hundreds of very nicely dressed people turned out last night (September 29) for the annual Light Up The Night gala put on by the Airdrie Health Foundation (AHF) to support health care in the city.  

This year's theme was "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and featured aerialists, jugglers and more, all designed to raise funds to support three programs that the Health Foundation has taken on.

Ryan Thompson, a volunteer board member with AHF says putting on the gala is a ton of work but is worth every minute of it as they rely on the gala for funds for the rest of the year. 

"We have nothing but thanks for everyone that's come out to put this together, which has been a flurry of activity for the past couple of days but has been months and months of planning going into it.  For the foundation, we raise the bulk of our money for the entire year at this night right here.  Last year we raised over $100,000 at this gala and our goal is to try and top that this year.  That money is going to be the bulk of our operating budget for all the programs that we want to fund for the next 12 months."

The three programs being supported this year include the Pregnancy and Beyond program, the Alberta Health Services and RCMP Mental Health Liasion Team and a brand new venture, Tele-Health, which Thompson says is cutting edge.

"No other health group in Alberta currently using this technology we're trying to fund.  It's being used in B.C. and Ontario, but if we were to bring it here to Airdrie it would be the first use of this technology in Alberta to be able to provide remote cardiology services at this level."

The total funds raised from last night's gala haven't been added up at this time.