McNutt House, Dallas Drive (Image Credit: CFJC News)

By Sydney Chisholm

Cassie's Charity Drive

Local teen raises thousands for Kamloops Hospice with holiday light display

Nov 18, 2022 | 5:12 PM

KAMLOOPS — More than 42,000 lights decorate the McNutt house on Dallas Drive.

The Christmas wonderland marks the home base and donation drop-off for Cassie’s Charity Drive – an annual fundraiser put on by 16-year-old Cassie McNutt.

This year’s drive will be the family’s fourth and each year the event has only gotten bigger.

“We really start on Dec. 1 and we have already reached halfway, so I think it will be huge this year,” McNutt said.

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“It’s crazy to see how big it’s gotten. I never expected it to be like this.”

McNutt hopes to raise $20,000 toward new beds for Kamloops Hospice.

Erin Gardner, executive director of Kamloops Hospice said Cassie’s Charity Drive is a big help for the hospice.

“To be 16 and spending her month of December really working towards supporting a non-profit in the community, you don’t hear about that very often,” Gardner said.

According to the executive director, it will cost about $175,000 to replace all 12 beds.

“Those mattresses really help patients when they’re in pain,” she said.

“They’re able to lift patients a little bit, provide them more comfort and that helps our team be able to provide them care as well.”

Last year, McNutt raised more than $19,000 for the local hospice by collecting donations and hosting an online silent auction.

“As a non-profit, you know, about half of our budget comes from Interior Health. The rest of that has to come from the community so without people like Cassie, sort of driving things forward for us. We aren’t able to provide hospice care to our community and the 12 bed home that we have here,” Gardner said.

The high school student is still a few weeks from the official start of the campaign but has collected more than $12,000 from corporate donations and an estimated $14,000 worth of items for the silent auction.

The McNutt family will be flipping the switch and lighting up their front yard on the evening of December 1.

Community members are invited to take part outside the home, located at 5212 Dallas Drive.

More information on the drive can be found here.