The Town of Morinville is preparing to host its annual Fill-A-Bus Campaign next week. Members of the public are being asked to bring non-perishable food items, cleaning and personal care items, and cash donations to fill the Morinville Community Bus.
Between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 24, the bus will be driving around to pick up donations from various school and business collection points. On Friday, Nov. 25, the bus will then be parked at the Morinville No Frills from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. and then at the Morinville Sobeys from 1:30 to 5:30 p.m.
Businesses who haven't yet registered as collection points and would still like to do so are asked to contact Community Services at 780-939-7839.
Macaroni makes kids smile
Re/Max Professionals hosted its second annual Mac-n-Cheese Un-Gala at Central Social Hall last week. Not only did they fill the house, attendees filled their bellies and filled the charity coffers too.
All told, more than $5,500 went to the Stollery Children's Hospital Foundation, an improvement of at least $500 from the first Un-Gala.
"It's pretty exciting," enthused co-organizer Craig Pilgrim. "It's all going to the Stollery."
"As a realtor, we go to tons of galas and there are silent auctions and live auctions … and pomp and circumstance. This is not that.
St. Albert Dodge forked over the cash to purchase the 525 boxes of macaroni. The extra boxes were donated to the St. Albert Food Bank yesterday.
They sold 250 tickets for the event, up from approximately 150 in 2015. There's already talk about next year's outing and raising the bar to $10,000.
Big donation for seniors' lodges
The Sturgeon Foundation graciously accepted a nice-sized cheque from North West Partnership recently. The funds will allow the organization to purchase computers, portable sound equipment and other technologies for the residents at its lodges in Redwater and Gibbons.
Foundation chair Dennis Magnusson thanked the company for its support.
"They gave us $10,000, which is very nice," he exclaimed. "This is the second time they've donated money. We're pretty happy about this because it's a lot of support for us and it meets an important need. We're trying to bring more technology to the seniors because, as people are getting older, more of them want to become more familiar with it. It's a tremendous opportunity and we're very happy about it."
The North West Partnership is currently working on the first phase of an upgrader near Redwater. While in construction, they have several thousand employees on site. The recycling collection has been supporting the fund from which this donation was made. Other community groups have also received benefits from this collection.
PICCO fundraiser
The Plugged In Community Centre Organization (PICCO) is hosting its third annual fundraiser from 6 to 11 p.m. next Thursday, Nov. 24. A dinner party will feature dinner, drinks, live local entertainment from Spenser, along with a silent auction and games.
Proceeds from the event will go to support the charity as it works towards its goal of creating a facility in St. Albert that will "make affordable rental space available on a cost-recovery basis to individuals and organizations that offer supportive programming that promotes meaningful inclusion."
The Bourbon Room is located at 205 Carnegie Dr. Tickets are $90 and can be purchased at www.eventbrite.ca.
Toy collection at school
J.J. Nearing School is hosting an interesting Toy Giveaway Fundraiser this weekend. People are invited to donate new and gently used toys on Saturday. Those toys will then be part of an open door Christmas store on Sunday. Entry is by a minimum $2 donation or with food donations. All toy sales are also by donation. All funds raised will go to making up Christmas hampers for local families struggling to make ends meet this holiday season.
The school is located at 196 Deer Ridge Dr.
