Moosomin Shriners hold annual fundraiser
August 26, 2024, 10:20 am
Ashley Bochek
The Moosomin Shriners will hold their annual fundraising supper Friday, October, 25. The supper will raise money for Play Fair Daycare and the local Shrine group to support children in Shriners Hospitals.
Jim Moore, a member of the Moosomin Shrine Club says this is the 11th year for the Shriners fundraising supper.
"This is our 11th annual fundraiser with dinner and a show. We start with dinner and then we have an update from our own club as to the different fundraising activities for the year, also some of the donations we have made locally to various groups, and there will be a couple other speeches before we have a band playing afterwards."
Details for the event
Moore says an '80s band will be playing at the fundraiser.
"Rock Candy will be the band playing later on in the night. It is classic rock—'70s and '80s music that people are familiar with. I think people will enjoy it."
He explains the fundraiser will include an auction that night.
"We are going to have an auction as well. We have various sponsors that donate prizes including two WestJet tickets again this year. We will be auctioning those off as well."
Moore says there will be speeches after supper.
"Our club president Leo Ilustrismo will give an update of our club and then usually we have the Potentate from Wa Wa Shriners, the Saskatchewan Shriners and he usually does a presentation as well. We're securing a Shrine family that will come and do a talk as well as to how the Shriners have helped them out."
Moore says the Shriners will be serving a roast beef supper.
"The event is at the Conexus MCC Centre October 25, it is a Friday night. The doors open at 5:30 pm, we have dinner at 6:30 pm and then the entertainment comes on around 8 pm that night. It will be a roast beef supper we are serving this year."
Fundraising goal
Moore says the Shriners hope to have a good crowd to help support the families and groups that use Shriners Hospitals.
"We hope we raise some funds for the local groups that we contribute to. A lot of them are children with special needs and we have donated to various families locally that way and different community groups as well we have made donations too. We just want to get the message out and be a reminder to folks what the Shriners is all about and what our purpose is. It is a major fundraiser for the year for us so we hope to raise funds to continue that philanthropy."
Fundraising for Playfair Daycare
Moore says half of the proceeds from the supper will go to Playfair Daycare.
"We see the day care as a much needed service in the community to help young families who maybe want to relocate to Moosomin and that is definitely an advantage having day care facilities that can accommodate that, and it is geared around children as well which is the Shriners' main focus so we thought the day care would be a good cause to donate some of the funds to this year."
Tickets sell out fast!
Moore says the fall concert is the Shriners' main fundraiser of the year.
"It is important that we continue to get the message out of what the Shriners do. It is one of our main fundraisers of the year so we do rely on it for funds to carry on our philanthropy throughout the year."
Moore says tickets sell fast every year for the supper.
"We usually sell out, and very quickly. This year we have 46 tables of 8 people per table so we will be close to 370 people that attend. We get fantastic support from the community as far as attendance. A lot of local businesses will contribute items for the auction as well so we are very fortunate to have good community support to make this event happen.
"Tickets go on sale September 1 and for those folks that do purchase a table of eight for $480, we do include a round of drinks as well if they purchase a table by September 30. It is best to get tickets early when they come on sale, because they do go quickly."
If you're interested in buying tickets this September 1, text Margaret of the Shriners.
"The main contact for tickets will be one of our committee members, Margaret Fuchs and her phone number is 306-434-8112. Anyone can phone or text Margaret for tickets."
Local support
Moore says the supper takes a lot of time to organize and they receive help from local volunteers and community groups.
"It takes a few months. We have a committee of seven of us and we meet monthly initially and then every couple of weeks as the event gets closer. We have a lot of work to do in terms of arranging the entertainment, the meal, securing the venue.
"There are a lot of volunteers involved—about 40-50 volunteers between Shrine Club members, one of the local restaurants helps us out for the meal, and the Kinsmen and Kinettes are a big help as well helping sell tickets for the event and working the bar that night. Then, our audio and visual production is done by the audio visual class at McNaughton High School. Sherrie Meredith and the kids involved in that class are a big help to us as well."
The fundraiser also keeps the Shriners visible in the community.
"We just want to remind folks of everything the Shriners do and what we are all about," Moore said. "Our main purpose is to help community groups, but also children that have special needs. If we can contribute financially or through the Shriner system then that is really our main focus and purpose and we just want people to have fun at the supper and see the community support."
