The Moose Jaw YMCA and Knights of Columbus Father Lawless Council 1534 paired up this Saturday to deliver two sold-out breakfasts featuring Santa Claus to the city’s families.
“There’s nothing like selling out a function to make it successful,” said Jeff Fox, CEO of the Moose Jaw YMCA. “It’s really great to see both sittings are sold out... when you look out at this room, there’s lots of YMCA strong kids here.”
The breakfast was in support of YMCA’s Strong Kids campaign, which endeavours to raise the funds to support children in attending the YMCA’s various kids camps and other programs.
“It’s wonderful. It’s a great community event that’s great for children, and we tried to make it affordable,” said Corinne Damaskie, communications and funds development coordinator for the YMCA. “But we never turn anyone away, even if they couldn’t afford to attend.”
In total, 200 Moose Javians attended the breakfast in two separate sittings, said Damaskie.
“It’s probably safe to say that at least 80 to 100 kids saw Santa today,” added Fox.
A highlight of the breakfast was the presentation of a $1,500 donation by the Knights of Columbus Lawless Council 1534 to the Strong Kids campaign, which Grand Knight Dave Duncan said will encourage the development of more “strong kids.”
“We’re for the community, and as I was saying, these children are our future. The old saying is, ‘If you want a good building, you’ve got to start with a strong foundation,’ and the Y’s Strong Kids program is a strong foundation,” he said.
“As a family-oriented organization, we felt this was a worthwhile project to get involved with.”
“(The donation) is wonderful,” said Damaskie. “It means that more children can attend camps this summer, or our other programs. It’s fantastic to have the support of other community organizations, such as the Knights of Columbus.”
