Making sure that students have plenty of opportunities, the Cawston Primary School's Parent Advisory Council (PAC) received an outpouring of support from the community and raised double their fundraising goal.
Every year the PAC organizers a Christmas fundraiser, and the 2024 fundraiser was their best yet, raising $11,800 that will go to the students' extracurricular activities and field trips.
"Over the years with budget cuts, extracurricular activities are always the first to get cut," Alex Vesper said. "People don't realize that every field trip throughout the year and year-end fun field trips that their students take is paid for by PAC."
The proceeds from the PAC's fundraisers cover the bussing costs and the costs for the activities themselves.
The community supports the fundraiser not only through donating gift cards for "trees", but also buying tickets for the raffles. In 2024 the PAC also received donations of free turkeys from the local turkey farm and a self-care basket from the Similkameen pharmacy.
"We simply would not be able to do this though without the local businesses' support," Vesper said. "Some donate gift cards to their own businesses, some buy gift cards to other local businesses and other donate cash for us to buy cards, others donate products from their business."
Extracurricular activities such as skating lessons, swimming lessons, Apex ski lessons for Grade 4 students and Apex tubing days for the kindergarten to Grade 3 students.
In addition to the Christmas raffle fundraiser, the PAC hosts multiple bake sales, a spring plant sale, annual poinsettia sale and movie nights in the gym for kids.
In addition to the 10 parents currently on the PAC, the students also participated in selling tickets, with a basket full of games and toys as an incentive to get out and raise more funds.
"In January we touched base with the music teacher and asked for a list of supplies she would like and can't get with her budget from the school," Vesper said. "All grades share the music room so we are hoping to buy some new supplies for them since we had such a great fundraiser this year."
The PAC is always looking for help and open to new ideas. If any parents of children at Cawston Primary School would like to join the one-hour meeting each month, please contact the principal Amanda Palmer and she will get you in contact with the PAC.
