Survivor Lakeland presented a 50,000 dollar check to Kidsport Bonnyville at the C2 today.
“[It’s] just outstanding,” says Chair of Kidsport Bonnyville Brad Ollen. “It’s going to be able to support over two hundred kids in our area.” Kidsport helps youth from low-income families overcome the financial barriers associated with organized sports. “Those kids might not be able to participate in sports without donations from events like this. It’s just fantastic for our community and organization and for local families and kids so that they have the opportunity to participate in sport.”
Kidsport was in a bad place financially a year ago, with the treasury basically dried up, even cutting back on the assistance they were able to give out per child. However a slew of donations from the likes of Survivor Lakeland, the Klienman Cup Golf Tournament and even local kids who wanted to make sure their friends could play with them, have put them on much better footing.
“I think once we got that information out, the community went above and beyond what we expected,” says Ollen. “It’s outstanding really. We expected the community to step up as they always do, but to this extent is fantastic.”
Ollen also says the charity has streamlined their operations to make sure as much funds as possible are going to the families that need it.
All 21 contestants in the 2017 Survivor Lakeland Competition had to raise at least 1000 dollars for the organization in order to participate for a 5,000 dollar cash prize of their own. A last minute donation from Horizon Mechanical topped the total up to the fifty grand mark.