What better than a Shrove Tuesday pancake supper at our Endiang Hall? And as for the good cause, we turned to our extraordinary principal of the Byemoor School, Gwen Keith.
After consulting with her fellow staff members, Principal Keith reported back that the school's gym and phys ed equipment was in a bit of a sorry state; maybe we could raise funds for that?
The Church at Endiang put up some posts and posters; the announcement was added into the school newsletter; our Councillor, Les Stulberg, wrote about it in his weekly newspaper column; and people spread the word. Joyce — the proprietor of the Byemoor restaurant and bar, our favourite place for chicken strips and pizza — even set aside her plans for a Shrove supper to help out the kids' cause!
I was worried, of course: what if we didn't have enough food? Enough help? What if this razor-thin economy meant people couldn't support the school?
WHAT IF NO ONE SHOWED UP?
Of course, we had lots of volunteers... And the sausages, eggs, fruit salad, strawberries and cream were bountiful... And ELEVEN kids (and three moms, plus a couple more and Principal Keith) from our tiny school signed up to help... And the grill was primed and ready to go just before 5 o'clock, just as Brittiany and her gang came in, the first guests of a wonderful evening...
They say that one picture is worth a thousand words, so I will shut up and let the pictures do the talking:
(I am so sorry to report that while I was trying to transfer kid pictures, I managed to delete them entirely... But Cash, Kord, Jos, Ryder, Bronc, Colter, Dustee, Abbi, Felix, Ava, Briar, Charlee and the other students who served — you were EXCELLENT, and you were GREAT ambassadors for your school!)
Now for the part we were all waiting for. The greeters tallied how many people came for supper, and the money counters counted the money.
Drum roll, please...
124 people! And I am not sure if that included kitchen staff or not!!
Then Stephen, whose own dad used to be a pastor at the old Endiang church way back, called over Principal Keith to present her with the offering for the school gym equipment fund.
Can you read her face? ...
Can you believe $2,798???!!!
Someone threw in a toonie to bring it up to an even
THANK YOU EVERYONE who came, who worked, who ate, who cleaned up, who gave. Some of our friends from Hanna Alliance Church who couldn't even attend gave. People from Endiang, Byemoor, Hanna, Scappa, Big Valley, Craigmyle, Delia, Red Deer (!!) gave. Someone who wanted to honour his son, who had attended the school back in the day, gave $20 per kid who worked. People who don't even have kids in school, or in this school, gave. Grammas and Grampas gave. Mums and Dads and Uncles and Aunties and friends and neighbours gave.
Principal Keith summed it up the best, in words that went something like this: "Thank you to the Church at Endiang for sponsoring this event. I am overwhelmed by the size of the donation, and by the people who turned out, and I am so proud of the kids who worked. But the best part of all was the community spirit in here tonight — everyone talking and laughing and coming together..."
We are all so proud of you, Principal Keith and staff, and the 33+ kids who comprise our small but great school.
And we LOVE our community! Thank you, God, for giving us each other.
The Church at Endiang put up some posts and posters; the announcement was added into the school newsletter; our Councillor, Les Stulberg, wrote about it in his weekly newspaper column; and people spread the word. Joyce — the proprietor of the Byemoor restaurant and bar, our favourite place for chicken strips and pizza — even set aside her plans for a Shrove supper to help out the kids' cause!
I was worried, of course: what if we didn't have enough food? Enough help? What if this razor-thin economy meant people couldn't support the school?
WHAT IF NO ONE SHOWED UP?
Of course, we had lots of volunteers... And the sausages, eggs, fruit salad, strawberries and cream were bountiful... And ELEVEN kids (and three moms, plus a couple more and Principal Keith) from our tiny school signed up to help... And the grill was primed and ready to go just before 5 o'clock, just as Brittiany and her gang came in, the first guests of a wonderful evening...
They say that one picture is worth a thousand words, so I will shut up and let the pictures do the talking:
(I am so sorry to report that while I was trying to transfer kid pictures, I managed to delete them entirely... But Cash, Kord, Jos, Ryder, Bronc, Colter, Dustee, Abbi, Felix, Ava, Briar, Charlee and the other students who served — you were EXCELLENT, and you were GREAT ambassadors for your school!)
Now for the part we were all waiting for. The greeters tallied how many people came for supper, and the money counters counted the money.
Drum roll, please...
124 people! And I am not sure if that included kitchen staff or not!!
Then Stephen, whose own dad used to be a pastor at the old Endiang church way back, called over Principal Keith to present her with the offering for the school gym equipment fund.
Can you read her face? ...
Can you believe $2,798???!!!
Someone threw in a toonie to bring it up to an even
$2,800
THANK YOU EVERYONE who came, who worked, who ate, who cleaned up, who gave. Some of our friends from Hanna Alliance Church who couldn't even attend gave. People from Endiang, Byemoor, Hanna, Scappa, Big Valley, Craigmyle, Delia, Red Deer (!!) gave. Someone who wanted to honour his son, who had attended the school back in the day, gave $20 per kid who worked. People who don't even have kids in school, or in this school, gave. Grammas and Grampas gave. Mums and Dads and Uncles and Aunties and friends and neighbours gave.
Principal Keith summed it up the best, in words that went something like this: "Thank you to the Church at Endiang for sponsoring this event. I am overwhelmed by the size of the donation, and by the people who turned out, and I am so proud of the kids who worked. But the best part of all was the community spirit in here tonight — everyone talking and laughing and coming together..."
We are all so proud of you, Principal Keith and staff, and the 33+ kids who comprise our small but great school.
And we LOVE our community! Thank you, God, for giving us each other.
 |
| The worst job of the night, but look at that smile... |
6 comments:
That’s awesome Karyn. Sorry I missed it. Looks amazing.
What a blessing and I’m like Gwen , “ just seeing everyone coming together and visiting each other and the laughter of enjoying each other and the fellowship is the best blessing of all. It makes your heart overflow at the giving that each person gave , weather it was of their time or money for a great cause. This is what it’s about and that’s really in honoring God through it all.
Thank you for sharing this, it made me remember the Tim’s at Northside Bible Church when I was a part of the youth department and all the baking we did too rise money for the youth. Good memories. Love you Karyn.
Oh! By the way, I don’t know who made those pancakes, but I would love their recipe, they look yummmmy!
Joyce Lloyd, top secret recipe! Make exactly as the recipe directs, but if you want pancakes like these, you need to stir in 4 extra cupfulls of love per batch...
https://www.costco.ca/krusteaz-pancake-mix%2C-buttermilk%2C-4.53-kg.product.100417303.html
What a WONDERFUL & CARING community we live in. GREAT WORK EVERYONE!! KUDOS to the staff & kids of our school for all their TIME & now they get to REAP the rewards!! So SORRY we missed it.
That's awesome! God can use a small group to do such amazing things when they seek to be a blessing to those around them! Thankful to see all the happy faces��
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