Cash assistance of $160,000 pa’anga was donated by the Vaiola Hospital Board of Visitors Charity for distribution to the Vaiola Hospital staff who are working during the current holiday season.

The charity organization visited Vaiola Hospital on Tongatapu, yesterday, 28 December, to present their donation.

Every year, the charity gives donations to the patients at the hospital during the Christmas holidays.

"This year, the board and members of the organization want to acknowledge the staff who are working tireless during the Christmas and New Years holiday," said the charity's secretary Suliana Vi.

About 400 staff members at Vaiola will benefit from this donation, including the nurses, clerks, cooks, the cleaning services, drivers, and others.

The Chairperson of the Board, Rev. Dr. Tu’ipulotu Katoanga, said the charity were happy to assist where the government could not.

The Vaiola Hospital Board of Visitors was established by the late Queen Salote Tupou III in the 1940s.

The Patron is HM Queen Nanasipau’u.