Peace+Love+Happiness
Our 2nd annual fundraising event was a huge success! Thank you so much to everyone who participated and donated their time, energy, love, and financial support to help Upward Bound Camp move forward toward the rebuilding of our camp and renovating the old schoolhouse. All of the monies we received will go towards the camp rebuild or renovations on the old schoolhouse. If you would like to learn more about our over 100-year-old schoolhouse that survived the 2020 wildfires check out our page all about the Gates Schoolhouse Restoration Project.
We had nearly 50 guests in attendance greeted at the door by Star and Care Bear selling raffle & dinner tickets, along with 11 staff members/volunteers and 4 very talented campers who performed several songs from the musical, Godspell, a 1971 musical based on the gospel according to Matthew. We wore flowers in our hair and face paint from the lovely Daisy. It was a colorful and joyful evening! Our guests enjoyed a delicious dish of shepherd’s pie and roasted vegetables followed by homemade cookies prepared by the very gracious Lovell’s (Noodle’s parents) who flew all the way here from Ohio to support our event. A huge shout out and thanks to “Cookie” and “Beaker”!!! Not only did Cookie help prepare an amazing meal, but she also lent us her creative genius to give our tables their festive centerpiece flare!
The meal was blessed by Mill City’s Presbyterian Church Pastor, Lavonne Alexander. During our time to mingle and eat dinner, people had the opportunity to buy raffle tickets and hope for a lucky draw from their choice of 15 different raffle items. There was also the opportunity to bid on 8 silent auction items.
After our meal and the fun of hearing names called out as raffle winners, the event moved upstairs to the theatre room where all were blessed to be entertained by our talented campers with a piano accompaniment by JoAnn Hebing. Then we heard from Robin and Ranger present our great need for help here at camp and a final ask for help. Our evening was prayed out by Gates Community Church Pastor, Mike Stair. Overall, our event was a huge success and a blessing! Much gratitude goes to all our generous supporters! We were able to raise nearly $10,000 dollars which will be a huge help in our effort to rebuild this camp that is cherished by so many deserving campers and their families!
