OLDS — The 11th annual Interact Banquet, held March 21 at École Olds High School, was a great success, raising $8,500 for Hope 4 MVC Kids, says Santana Scarff, a teacher who helps out the club, along with academic coach and Indigenous education liaison Bev Toews.
"The generosity of our community is truly overwhelming," Scarff says.
The Interact Club is essentially a junior Rotary Club active in the school, strongly supported by the school and the Rotary Club of Olds.
Each year it holds a fundraising banquet with proceeds going to a charity or group of the club’s choice.
The society helps families in Mountain View County and the urban centres within its geographical boundaries in many, ways, assisting with expenses or concerns such as parking, meals, fuel, utilities, groceries, accommodation, and sibling care.
Support is also provided to obtain adaptive equipment for home or school as well as help with counselling, medical health care, alternative therapies and education.
Founder Lisa Nicholson created the Hope 4 MVC Kids Society with the help of a friend in November 2013 when her family couldn't obtain the financial assistance they needed to help her daughters and when it was discovered that there were many more families struggling with those problems as well.
In an email to the Albertan, Scarff noted that auctioneers Patrick Cassidy and Jim Crawford raised nearly $7,000 for the cause in the dessert auction alone. One cake sold for more than $1,000.
The evening also featured raffle tables and a silent auction.
Nicholson and her daughter Hope, an ÉOHS Grade 12 student, spoke about the goal and mission of Hope 4 MVC Kids and the impacts they've seen as families around the community access its services.
“Our club members believe this is an important cause in our community that directly impacts youth, just like them,” Scarff wrote in an email.
Grade 12 students Aza Korver and Davina Merritt served as MCs.
Entertainment for the evening was provided by seven ÉOHS students and the Olds High School Teacher Band.
Interact student members from grades 9-12 organized the raffle tables and dessert auction by acquiring donations from local individuals and businesses.
“The banquet was a wonderful evening, full of music, good food and good company,” Scarff wrote.
“We have an amazing community; the raffle and dessert donations were so generous.”