History

27 YEARS OF SUCCESS


The Fantasy of Trees has grown tremendously since the Auxiliary of Children's Hospital started the event 27 years ago. The comparison of numbers from the event's first year in 1985 to last year's totals shows just how much the Fantasy of Trees has evolved through the years.

The History of the Fantasy of Trees


In 27 years, the Fantasy of Trees has raised more than $5.7 million to provide much-needed medical equipment for children served by East Tennessee Children's Hospital. Since the first Fantasy of Trees in 1985 that welcomed 13,125 visitors, the Fantasy of Trees has hosted well over one million people.
The Fantasy of Trees is designed, created and staffed by thousands of volunteers who give more than 170,000 hours annually to make the Fantasy of Trees the premier holiday event in East Tennessee.


   1985  2011
 Estimated Attendance
 13,125  55,548
 Net Proceeds
 $13,843  $342,988
 Estimated Volunteer Hours
 12,000 hrs
 170,844
 Designer Items
 60  350
 Total Attendance in 27 Years
 1,262,639
 Total Volunteer Hours in 27 Years
 2,508,630
 Total Net Proceeds in 27 Years
 $6.0 million

A Tradition of Giving


Funds from the first four years were designated for various medical equipment needs throughout the hospital. In 1989, Fantasy of Trees organizers began to designate proceeds to fund specific areas of the hospital each year:

1989     Surgery Department
1990     Pediatric Intensive Care Unit 
1991     General Medical Equipment 
1992     Ultrasound Unit for Radiology
1993     Ambulatory Care Center
1994     Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and Surgery Department
1995     Post-Anesthesia Care Unit and Surgery Department
1996     Neonatal Intensive Care Unit
1997     Home Health Care and Respiratory Care Department
1998     Anesthesiology and Laboratory
1999     Neonatal Intensive Care Unit
2000     Cardiac Echo Units for Radiology
2001     Surgery Department
2002     Pediatric and Neonatal Intensive Care Units
2003     Children's Hospital Rehabilitation Center
2004     Open Door Endowment Fund
2005     Baxter Syringe Pumps, NICU monitors, electroencephalographs and an EEG Review System
2006     Equipment for two new surgery suites
2007     IntelliVue MP50 Bedside Monitors 
2008     Equipment for Inpatient, Surgery and Radiology Departments
2009     Two nuclear medicine cameras for Radiology
2010     Equipment for the Laboratory and the Children's Sleep Medicine Center
2011     Equipment for MRI in Radiology, Lifeline Transport Service and Pharmacy Department
2012     Equipment for Surgery