Going to space camp may no longer be a crushed dream for local students as a $50,000 donation announced on Thursday night, put them closer to their fundraising goal.
Going to space camp may no longer be a crushed dream for local students as a $50,000 donation announced on Thursday night, put them closer to their fundraising goal.
A classroom at Ronald Harvey Elementary School filled with applause when Sue Monson, senior development manager of Melcor Developments announced the company had rounded up a total of $50,000 amongst their business partners.
"When we heard about this cause we thought it was really important to get involved. It was a great example of the community working together," said Monson.
"We believe that building communities isn't just about assembling infrastructure, it's also about unifying people and creating kinship."
Last month Grade 5 and 6 students from the St. Albert Public School district learned that the company behind the space camp tour had folded, taking nearly $250,000 of their money with it. The trip was to take students on a tour of Ontario and Quebec to visit places including Parliament and the Cosmodome space camp in Laval, Que.
A dedicated group of parents have since raised $50,000 - enough funds to ensure 71 students will still be able to go on "Space Camp 2.0" with 22 chaperones. They worked tirelessly over the past week to negotiate new deals with Air Canada, Global Tourisme and Cosmodome.
Organizers are confident they will be able to raise the remaining $30,000.
"When they asked me a week ago, I would have given this cause about a 15 per cent chance of success," said Chuck Mulholand, of the "Save Our Space Camp" group. "Today I think it's 100 (per cent). What I have seen...with this grassroots campaign has been truly phenomenal."
Melcor was prompted to support the cause after Greg Christensen of Christensen Developments donated $5,000 on Wednesday and challenged other home builders to beat the donation. Melcor's businesses partners include Sarasota Homes, Daytona, Reid Worldwide, Standard General, Eng-Con Group and Weinrich Contracting.
More to come...
