It was a record breaking day on Thursday for the 17th annual Community Living Wallaceburg Box Lunch fundraiser.
“Things went amazing,” Lisa Caron, Communications and Fund Development Specialist at Community Living Wallaceburg, told the Sydenham Current on Thursday.
“We had 1,900 orders for boxes just going out to Chatham-Kent and Lambton County. 1,900 lunches beat our record from last year which was 1,300. It was a record breaking year. We have had very few issues, which is very hard to make happen, and it was all thanks to the amazing volunteers and the support of our employees.”
Caron said they went to over 250 locations to deliver the lunches on Thursday.
“We had people starting at 6 a.m. making the sandwiches and we were done by 8:30 a.m. We had 49 people we support, volunteers and employees at the UAW Hall. It was amazing. We had 63 drivers as well, and these are all volunteers and it’s also people we support and staff as well. So all of the group of people that help us are a combination of all three.”
Caron said the final fundraising number still needs to be tallied.
“We are so grateful for all of the support that we received,” she said.
Alisha Allaer, Communications and Fund Development Associate, said the fundraiser is a great day for the entire organization.
“It is a day that we spend together,” she said.
“All of the people we support, the employees and volunteers. We get to make this happen together. They are up in the morning. They were there yesterday putting coleslaw in the cups. Everyone is helping. It is just a great combo of everybody making it happen in the community and then the combination of the support in the community. It really makes a difference because we were the ones hand making all of the sandwiches today. So that I think makes such a difference.
Allaer added: “Everyone we met today, they were like ‘next year I can’t wait to volunteer.’ People were so excited for this. Just that in itself makes it all worth it.”
Caron said she is very thankful for the support.
“It is amazing to have the support of the community to bring awareness of what the agency provides,” she said.
“The services we provide to the community. It is a really great awareness piece… making people aware of what we support and the people we support.”
Caron said she wanted to thank all of the sponsors for supporting the event.
“An integral part of putting this together is the support from our sponsors,” she said.
Allear added: “Helping with supplies we need and things like that, funds to help us kick start all of our marketing and you guys at Sydenham Current. The support is always helpful. Definitely helped us get our 1,900 lunches.”
Here are some photos from the UAW Hall on Thursday morning, April 6, 2017:
– Photo credit: Dana Haggith
