The Prince County Hospital Foundation has opened an online auction to support its annual Grass Roots and Cowboy Boots fundraiser, giving people who can’t attend the sold-out live event on Saturday, September 12, 2026, a chance to bid and help raise money for medical equipment at Prince County Hospital.
Bids are being accepted now at can.givergy.com/GRCB2026, and the online auction will close around 8:30 p.m. on September 12, the same time as the live event at Credit Union Place in Summerside. The in-person dinner and live auction are already sold out, but organizers say the new online component lets donors from anywhere participate. All proceeds stay local and go toward the 2026 Vital Signs campaign, which aims to raise $3,233,410 for essential equipment, including $975,000 to replace the hospital’s aging CT scanner.
The current CT scanner was installed in 2016 and served 5,794 patients in its first year. By the last fiscal year, that number had more than doubled to 13,321 patients. The importance of the scanner was highlighted by 18-year-old Kolton Nicholson, who survived a serious ATV crash in May 2025 after the hospital’s CT scanner revealed life-threatening internal injuries, including a ruptured spleen and a shattered kidney. “I don’t think I’d be here,” Nicholson said when asked what might have happened without the scanner.
The Grass Roots and Cowboy Boots event has been held every year since 2009 and is organized by Warren Ellis and his family through Summerside Chrysler Dodge. It has become Canada’s largest single-night hospital fundraiser, raising a record $3,897,600 at the 2024 event. The live event on September 12 includes a sit-down dinner, live auction, entertainment, a 50/50 draw, and a Jeep Wrangler Sport giveaway donated by Summerside Chrysler Dodge.
To browse and bid on auction items, visit can.givergy.com/GRCB2026. Payment links and item pickup will be coordinated through the Foundation office after the auction closes.
