INNISFAIL – Innisfail Kinsmen and Kinettes continued to have big smiles 48 hours after their recent successful Weekend of Wheels.
The annual event, which the service clubs have organized the past two years, was a smash hit with Innisfailians who attended by the hundreds for the two-day motor vehicle show on Sept. 9 and 10. When it was all over service club officials estimated up to $2,000 was raised for the town's skatepark project.
And then on Sept. 12 Kinsmen and Kinettes were overjoyed with an unexpected $3,235 donation for the skatepark project from John's nofrills.
“This is very exciting for us and came as a complete surprise. We didn't even know John was doing this until about two weeks in,” said Dan Merkley, secretary of the Kinsmen.
John Harris, owner of John's nofrills, said once a year his company runs a “Give a Little, Help a Lot” campaign, and he gave considerable thought to what worthy community cause the store could support.
“I went to the town office and got some help there and they made me aware of the initiative of the Kinsmen and Kinettes trying to get enough money together for a skatepark,” said Harris. “It seemed like a good thing to get behind, so we ran it for three weeks and got donations from customers of Innisfail. Customers were generous in supporting the initiative.”
Over the three-week campaign, which began in August and ran into September, customers were asked with every transaction if they would be willing to support the skatepark project, which has a total budget of more than $600,000.
“We explained (to customers) they were building a skatepark for Innisfail and people could leave anywhere from $2 or whatever they wanted for a donation,” he said, adding the ultimate total of $3,235 came as a pleasant shock.
“It shows the generosity of the community. I didn't expect it to get up to this amount,” said Harris.
The donation warmed the hearts of the Kinsmen and Kinettes, who were officially chosen by the Town of Innisfail last year to lead the fundraising for the skatepark project.
“We really appreciate the support from nofrills and the community. It is a real good kick-start to our fundraising, and we have a few other donations to date. They are just starting to come in,” said Merkley. “And the Kinettes are working hard as well.”
Tammy Noete, president of the Kinette Club of Innisfail, said she was also moved by the donation by John's nofrills, adding her service group has other fundraising initiatives planned for the fall and into next spring, including the 39th annual Dinner of Diamonds on Oct. 21. That is her service group's major fundraiser of the year with some of the proceeds earmarked for the skatepark project.
“And we have a lot of little things coming up that we hope we'll get some support from the community when it comes to the skatepark,” said Noete, adding the nofrills donation capped off a wonderful past 48 hours for the community.
“It was a great weekend, wonderful weather, lots of people turned out,” she said of the Weekend of Wheels event. “It was nice to have compared to our first year (2016) when the weather was not as friendly.”
Dan Merkley, secretary of the Innisfail Kinsmen
"This is very exciting for us and came as a complete surprise. We didn't even know John was doing this until about two weeks in."
