Creative fundraising ideas are the backbone of many Saskatchewan communities, and some people in Norquay recently put the “fun” in fundraising.
The Princess and Superhero Fundraiser was held at the Norquay Communiplex on January 25. The event was organized by Amanda Holinaty, Jessica Lapchuk, Nicole Wright, Lindsay Peters, Candice Salisbury and Lindsay Jordan.
“The Norquay School is in need of a new playground, so we've started fundraising and filling out grants to come up with the funds to build one in the near future,” said Holinaty.
The women, a group of “moms,” got together and planned the fun event for families to enjoy a night with their children. “Included in the evening was a perogy and ham supper,” Holinaty continued. “The Sacred Heart of Jesus Ukrainian Catholic Church women donated all the perogies; Robinsons Family Foods, The Whistle Stop and community families donated the ham, and RB's Restaurant donated 200 donuts. We fed just under 200 people with 38 volunteers helping to make this event possible, from kitchen staff, students as servers, princess volunteers and superhero volunteers.”
The event began with the Fairy Godmother, played by Marlene Hamm, and Mary Poppins, played by Karen Crawford, greeting attendees at the door, and featured a sparkle tattoo table, craft tables and a door table, as well as a raffle table featuring donated prizes.
“When the children arrived, they were given a signature booklet and pen at the door, and they went around to all the super heroes and princesses in costumes to collect autographs and take photos with them,” she said, indicating the youngsters had “such fun” filling the keepsake books.
“We had two craft tables: one to decorate a ‘magic wand’ and one to decorate a ‘sword.’ We had made up little wooden wands and swords for decorating. Each child also got a sparkle tattoo free of charge. We had two photo areas, one a princess castle backdrop and one a superhero cityscape.
“After supper, Mary Poppins read the children a story. Then all the children gathered on the dance floor while we thanked the volunteers, and proceeded with our dance.
“With a light show and some fun music the kids danced the night away, ending around 8 p.m. We were very happy with the event turnout and have received a lot of great feedback. We acknowledge every one who volunteered and offered support, and we were very pleased to have made $3,230 for our playground project,” Holinaty concluded.
