A total of $6,300 was raised on Thursday during a dinner held to benefit the Olds Interact Club's designated two projects this year — the Fontaine Children's Charity Foundation and the UNESCO conference that will be held at the school in May.
Aside from entertainment provided by music students, the evening featured a meal based on a 100-mile theme, various live and silent auction items and a brief overview of the two projects the club was supporting with proceeds from the dinner.
Tiffany Kieboom told the audience about how in 2002, while still a university student, she went on a trip to Mozambique, and her life took a dramatic turn. She was visiting the country with a friend when she came across a local program designed to help street boys.
“We were there for four months and when I came home I found out they lost all their funding. That's when I decided to help them out and … start raising funds here,” she said.
While she was in Mozambique, Kieboom said she would check on the kids to make sure they were properly nourished.
When Kieboom came back to Alberta, she slowly began working to help the organization become self-sufficient, and managed to get charity status in two years. One hundred per cent of the funds raised go directly toward projects to help out the street boys. Kieboom said her next goal is to help make the program self-sufficient — and she thinks that could happen within five years.
“They already have a garden, they have a full plot of land … where they can keep growing maize and corn, so they're really on their way to becoming self-sufficient. They already have their well … and soon we're going to be putting in solar lights, so they don't have to worry about electricity from the government,” she said.
Kieboom said she thought the support offered by the Interact Club was amazing.
“It's really important for people to find those smaller local charities rather than the big conglomerates … because it's harder for them to put 100 per cent of the funds towards (assistance) because they have such a huge overhead, whereas if you can find the smaller groups, not only do you know the people that run it most likely, but you also are guaranteed that the funds will go where they're supposed to go,” she said.
While Kieboom said the program is designed to reintegrate the boys back into the community, there is often local resistance from adults who believe the boys aren't worth helping out.
The other half of the proceeds will be going toward the Interact Club, which will be hosting a UNESCO conference from May 4 to 7 at the school. About 200 delegates from Canada and other countries will be attending the event. The conference is based on social justice and environmental stewardship.
Sarah Hunder, co-chair of the fundraiser, said she was pleased with the way the event turned out.
“It turned out like way better than we expected. You always get the last-minute jitters and you think it's going to go terribly and the community was just great and they're really fantastic at supporting the youth. We're really happy about the results,” she said.
"It turned out like way better than we expected. You always get the last minute jitters and you think it's going to go terribly and the community was just great and they're really fantastic at supporting the youth."Sarah Hunder, co-chair, Interact Club fundraiser
