Amie Dow and Steve Clark have been working hard to put together a children’s Christmas party, which would be held at the Ashcroft Legion for all children in the area served by the Ashcroft branch.
Dow grew up in Cloverdale, and her grandmother was the Legion president there. The Legion held Christmas parties for children, and Dow says “We used to do the kids Christmas parties every year when we were little. I always looked forward it.”
She notes the parents had to buy the gifts for their children. However, she and Clark are fundraising, as they want to provide all of the gifts for the children.
“One hundred per cent of what we make fundraising goes towards buying gifts, food to feed everyone, and a day of activities for the kids.”
She has organized four barbecues to raise funds for gifts, with the most recent one on September 15, when Dow, Clark, and some volunteers held one at Safety Mart and the Legion. They raised $430 for the Christmas party, and altogether they have collected around $4,000.
“People are pretty generous when it comes to kids,” says Dow.
The party has been set for December 16, and the tentative time would be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. “It may have to go a bit longer depending on how many kids we get.”
The children’s Christmas party has been approved by Branch #113. “It’s the first time I’ve done this, so I’m not quite sure how to go about it,” Dow says with a chuckle. However, she intends to have some activities for the children and, of course, there will be a visit from Santa Claus.
Dow says they have been raising funds, and now they have to figure out a way to get children signed up. She thinks the best way to get children registered is to have it go through the schools, but she hasn’t approached them yet. However, one of the organizers is currently working on a form in hopes the Ashcroft and Cache Creek schools will send them home with the children.
“Basically, it would ask the child’s name and age and how many children are in the household who would be coming to the party and their names, so we can have all that right,” she explains.
Dow has been attending Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops on a full-time basis, so she is really busy. Noting that she is ready to start recruiting people to help her with the organizing of the party, Dow says some people are helping her now.
Anyone interested in helping can email Dow at amiedow@gmail.com.
editorial@accjournal.ca
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