A weekend of fundraising in Chatham-Kent for two very worthy causes.
Saturday night marked the second virtual Festival of Giving in support of the Chatham-Kent Children’s Treatment Centre with live and online auctions, entertainment, and more.
Foundation Executive Director Mike Genge says the event brought in over $151,500.
“We sold close to 600 tickets for the event to go virtually,” Genge says. “It shows good support from the community that they want to come out and help the Children’s Treatment Centre. We haven’t closed during the pandemic, so our families are using the centre and coming in, so the money will go a long way with helping them.”
The event also included raffling off a BMW Z3 Roadster, which went to Tony Modde from Wallaceburg.
Meantime the second annual Music for the Mind live concert was finally able to happen in Tilbury after multiple delays due to COVID restrictions. Almost half a dozen local bands took to the stage at the Boonies Drive-In Saturday night.
Organizer Elisha Banks says the mental health fundraiser in and of itself was a great boost for mental health.
“You can feel it, and I hear it. I’ve been walking around and I hear people say ‘This feels normal,’ this is the first time it’s felt normal in a really long time,” Banks says. “Just laughing and happiness and just to be able to be around people again. We haven’t been able to do that and it feels so good to be able to do it again.”
Music for the Mind raises money to buy supplies for inpatients at the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance mental health unit. Saturday’s concert raised approximately $60,000 for the cause.