INNISFAIL – Darlene Thompson and her daughter Jasmine O'Donoghue had happy smiles on their faces during the early evening of Oct. 15 as they welcomed guests to a special dinner event in the auditorium of the Innisfail Royal Canadian Legion Branch #104.
The doors were finally open to the 42nd annual Dinner of Diamonds, an event hosted by Kinette Club of Innisfail. Since 2019 the annual event had been shut down by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“This is our biggest fundraiser of the year, and yes, we're excited to be back,” said Thompson, the club’s current president who has been a Kinette for more than 26 years.
She said the Dinner of Diamonds event was expecting a turnout of about 230 Kinette members and community citizens.
“I think the group here are going to have a lot of fun tonight,” said Thompson, whose daughter is also a proud member of the service club. “We get to go out and have a good time.
“But we haven't been able to raise money in excess for a few years now, so this is really nice to get some funds in our bank account and give it back to the community,” she said, adding a community project has not yet been decided. “Our motto is ‘serving the community's greatest needs.’ “It just all stays in the community, all the proceeds.”
Following the event Thompson said the club did not yet have a full breakdown on how much money was raised on Oct. 15 but said the annual dinners often have profits of between $5,000 to 10,000; monies that are all directed back into the community.
