Over the past ten weeks, we did a weekly feature on the history of the Chestermere Regional Food Bank that was a count down to the organizations ten-year anniversary. On May 28, 2016, the Chestermere Regional Food Bank held a celebration in the parking lot of Eric’s No Frills.
The event had live music, games, a vendor market, activities, BBQ, face painting and much more! Hundreds came out to attend the event, which saw around 3000 lbs. of food donated at the event and around $6800 in cash and gift cards.
Val Yanke, Special Events Coordinator with the Chestermere Regional Food Bank, added, “There is a potential opportunity to receive a matching donation up to the amount of $5,000. along with some funds still to come in, for sold auction items. Assuming we can incorporate these figures, the total anticipated funds raised, will be approximately $12,800”. Yanke adds that the funds were being raised primarily for operating costs, as the demand for assistance has been significantly on the rise lately.
Organizations like the Chestermere Regional Food Bank rely heavily on volunteers and donations and the same is said for when events like this are held.
“Firstly, we’d like to thank all the Chestermere residents, along with other friends and families, that attended and supported this event.
Secondly, we still couldn’t have had such a successful event, if we didn’t have the support from local businesses, friends, other individuals, in the form of raffle / auction items, volunteering and cash donations”, adds Yanke.
The Chestermere Regional Food Bank wishes to thank:
– Ann Hutter – sound system suited each of the different bands
– Best Western Plus, Chestermere – gift certificate
– Blaine Stillman & Band – an inspiring young group for all to thoroughly enjoy, for years to come
– Boston Pizza – gift certificates
– Brown’s Socialhouse – food donations by all staff, personal donation by management; also providing a 10% discount to patrons who also donated food
– Caribbean Tan – gift certificate
– Chestermere Community Services for the road signs
– Chestermere Fire Services – appearance
– Chestermere Girl Guides – amazingly managed the steady flow of people at the BBQ and maintained cleanliness
– Chestermere Safeway – donated the very large, scrumptious cake and gift card
– Chestermere Scotiabank for the numerous volunteering hours (even when it was extremely inconvenient for them)
– Cindy Verbonac – auction item
– City of Chestermere Roads, provided; delivered the barricades to partition off the event area
– Coffee News (advertising the non-profit event)
– CRCA for providing the tables, signage; Vicki, our cherished MC
– Diversion Salon – auction items
– Eric’s No Frills for allowing us to utilize their parking lot, supplying all the burgers, hot dogs, buns, chips, pop & water … not to mention, having a spectacular sale on, that everyone could take advantage of
– BWI / Friends of BWI, for many aspects of donating so much time, equipment; monetary donations
– Food Bank Volunteers – participated in many aspects of volunteering for this event
– Garden Scents – auction item
– Herbal Magic – raffle item
– HSBC – auction item
– Kim Bruens – photographer
– Lakeshore Spa – gift basket
– Lakeside Golf – gift certificate
– Langdon Community Association for the rental of equipment
– Leela & Akesh Aheer – amazing performance, as we can always expect from them
– Legup.ca (Michelle Young) – posting vendor table bidding war
– Lifepath Spa – gift basket
– Mo’s Liquor – raffle items
– Modern Plastics Inc. – funds donated
– Olympic Hockey Tournament – funds donated
– Pho Lam – gift card
– Pinks and Plates – gift certificates
– Project Pal – pet food donations
– Rainbow Falls Dental – auction item
– Redline Real Estate – donation & volunteering
– Rotary Club of Chestermere – monetary donation along with providing the equipment & manpower to serve well over 100 hungry supporters
– Scentsy (Peggy Frunchak) – raffle items
– Shelby Rawlysyk – face painter
– Shutdown Miles (blues band) – a great deal of power and soul shows through their performance
– Sobey’s liquor – raffle item
– Sound Waves – a spectacular rendition of some favorite tunes
– Susanne A Heaton – inspiring children’s book author & dressed the part of a fairy, spreading sunshine
– Synergy – YELL group – numerous hours of volunteering, including face painting
– The Anchor & Michelle Young – pleasant & personable onsite reporting
– The General Store for the numerous balloons used at the event for the children, and for the evening portion
– The Landing – supplied the well-liked chili at the daytime event and eagerly worked with the volunteers for the evening portion
– The Lions Club – auction items, equipment and numerous hours of volunteering
– Toni Lynn – a local singer with very vibrant vocals
– United Graphics – printing
– Van Son Vietnamese – gift certificate
– Waiting Room Café – supplying coffee for the very early morning volunteers, many hours of volunteering and gift certificates for the minor volunteers
– Westcreek Pub – gift cards
– Yes Surrey Bikes supplied the bike and trailer for all the donated food to be transported, which the volunteer drivers truly enjoyed doing
We also had monetary support from the following vendors:
– Broken Glass
– Graham’s Home Décor
– Grocery Bag N’ Go
– Jakes Steak Spice – Brian Sandberg
– Locket Memories – Heather
– Ninja Bags
– Rainbow Falls Dental
– Refresh Esthetics
– Scentsy – Peggy Fruchak
– Younique – Janine Wahl
{Disclaimer: The listed supporters have been recorded alphabetically, so not to be naming them as in their level of support … as they all had intricate involvements within this successful event. This list was prepared with the intentions of not missing any of the supporters towards the Chestermere Regional Food Bank’s 10th Anniversary event, however, it is with deep regret if any specific business(es) / organization (s) were not included.}
Although the celebration is over, if you would like to still donate to the Chestermere Regional Food Bank, you can call 403-273-0777 or email: crfb@shaw.ca
