OLDS — The first-ever École Olds High School (ÉOHS) Christmas Palooza, held last week, raised $1,953.85 for the Olds Christmas Angels.
That’s not all.
Thanks to a couple of other fundraisers, as of Dec. 9, the school had raised $2,500 for the Christmas Angels “to make Christmas a little brighter for those less fortunate,” the ÉOHS weekly bulletin said.
The Christmas Angels are a group of volunteers who collect and deliver Christmas hampers filled with toys, food and gift cards to needy families in the community.
The Palooza was held early in the morning of Dec. 8 in the school’s Commons.
Guests could buy a pizza box for $25 and fill it with a dozen homemade treats baked by ÉOHS students and/or their families.
Raffle tickets could also be bought. Prizes were donated by several local businesses.
In addition, Fair Trade coffee and hot chocolate were served.
The school generated other fundraisers for the Christmas Angels as well.
For example, the annual ÉOHS Reindeer Games brought in more than $250 in buy-ins for them.
Patrons who attended Mary Poppins, staged by the ÉOHS Drama Club in early December, donated another $300 to the cause.
Louann Statchuk with ÉOHS student services said planning for Christmas Palooza goes back a couple of years, when she heard of a similar event, the Great Winsport Calgary Cookie Exchange.
Students initially planned to run Christmas Palooza last year, but it was postponed when they moved to online learning as a result of the pandemic.
Leadership students began planning this year’s event in October. All senior high leadership students and/or their families contributed two dozen sweet treats for it.
