Two events made for a big weekend for the Winkler Christmas Cheer Board.
It hosted the Holly Jolly fundraising breakfast Saturday morning at the Central Station Community Centre, and Sunday then featured the charity classic game between … charity classic game between the Winkler Flyers and a team of Winkler firefighters.
“This being the kickoff weekend for us, I think we started off with bang,” said president Crystal Rempel.
“Last year was our first time in the Central Station and the first time we had done the breakfast in two years … so I feel it has caught on with people,” she said.
“We served 340 people … last year we did around 220,” she noted. “It was great, and we raised nearly $5,600 and then when you add Scotiabank’s contribution with the matching up to $3,000, that comes $9,566.
“We feel really good about it, and it was just good to see everyone come out, and we had a blast working together in the kitchen and serving in the hall.”
Rempel said it puts them well on their way to their goal of $130,000 to bless more than 400 families in the community this Christmas.
Adding to it will be the proceeds from the charity classic game, and Winkler fire department representative Rick Schroeder noted the money was still coming in and being tallied at press time, but he was very optimistic.
“I believe we’re somewhere around the $8,000 to $9,000 mark just from the event itself,” he said, noting the overall total could go up substantially when other money including the support from sponsors comes in yet.
“It was a great turnout … a lot of people had fun, and it was an entertaining hockey game,” said Schroeder, whose team of firefighters in the end were edged 10-9 by the Flyers in a shootout. “The support from the community was great as well as our corporate sponsors who helped make the event possible.
