Want to brighten your day — OK, night — and brighten the community’s health outlook Tuesday? Then be sure to participate in the 28^th-annual Lights of Love tree-lighting ceremony next week.

The ceremony begins at 6 p.m. Tuesday in front of Vidant Beaufort Hospital (628 E. 12^th St., Washington) before moving indoors. The event is open to the public. The tree used for the ceremony is an evergreen adjacent to the hospital’s newest addition. The lights symbolize those who have been honored or memorialized over the years.

The John Small School Chorus will provide musical entertainment. With Santa Claus making an appearance at the event, children will have ample opportunity to tell him their Christmas wishes and have photographs of them with him taken at no charge.

The traditional children’s art contest returns again as part of the Lights of Love celebration. Beaufort County students from kindergarten through the fifth grade are invited to take part in the contest. First-, second- and third-place prizes are awarded in each grade. One entry will be selected for the best-in-show award. That entry will be featured on the hospital’s annual Christmas card. All of the artwork will be displayed in the hospital’s first-floor hallway through the end of the year.

“During the past five years, over $25,000 has been raised from generous contributions from the community for Lights of Love. These donations come in the form of memorials or honorariums in recognition of family and friends,” wrote Pam Shadle, spokeswoman for Vidant Beaufort Hospital, in an email. “During that time we have also received over $18,000 from the Lights of Love endowment fund that was established in 2008 with the North Carolina Community Foundation. The purpose the of the Lights of Love endowment fund is to support our hospital for specific services, programs or projects.”

“We are very appreciative to the many people who have contributed to our Lights of Love program over the years. This fundraising initiative which has been in existence for over 25 years has helped improve and enhance patient care as well as provide amenities that have made our hospital more comfortable for our patients and visitors,” said Vidant Beaufort Hospital President Harvey Case.  “We look forward to our annual tree lighting ceremony each year as the lights on our tree symbolize the many generous donations.”

The Lights of Love tradition began Dec. 9, 1985, as a way for community members to remember or celebrate a loved one during the holiday season, according to the hospital’s website. Nearly 30 years later, Lights of Love is an around-the-year project that provides individuals and families to give back to the hospital while commemorating a variety of creative and traditional events.

Donations to Lights of Love help fund projects that promote health-care education, support and enhance patient care, improve community wellness and provide amenities that help make the hospital more comfortable for patients and visitors.

A minimum, tax-deductible donation of $5 allows someone to honor or remember a special person in his or her life with a light that shines with the many other lights on the Lights of Love tree.

In 2011, the hospital’s women’s services department received rocker-gliders paid for with donations to Lights of Love and a special donation from Eastern Radiologists. The rocker gliders are for patient rooms where new parents and their babies stay after delivery. The gentle motion of rocking a new baby has proven to be soothing for both the parent and the infant, according to a hospital new release issued in July 2011.

For more information about Lights of Love, including how to make a donation, call 252-975-4100.