BPCF puts the fun in fundraiser

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By Miranda Leybourne

Neepawa Banner

The Beautiful Plains Community Foundation (BPCF) is preempting their 24-hour giving challenge with a creative new fundraiser on Nov. 18.

Brenda Kryschuk, executive director of the foundation, says it’s the first year they’ve done what they’re calling “Jail n Bail”, and the fifth year they’ve done the giving challenge.

“The 24-hour giving challenge is a challenge that the Winnipeg Foundation has created,” Kryschuk explains. “If we can raise $10,000 in 24 hours, they will give us $2,000 in matching dollars. So...for every one dollar we donate, they will give us a one to five ratio.”

Jail n Bail gives people a chance to have fun by “snitching” on their boss, co-workers or friends and have them “arrested”. Participants can also “confess” to their own past misdemeanours and turn themselves in, and all to raise money for the BPCF’s community endowment fund. 

In March, the organization accepts grant applications from community groups and distributes grants from the interest earned on their endowment funds in the previous year. In 2016, the foundation distributed a total of $101,010 to organizations like the Brookdale Community Centre, the Kin Club of Neepawa Scholarship, Neepawa Novas Gymnastics Club and the Beautiful Plains Museum, to name just a few.

It’s Kryschuk’s hope that the dynamic new Jail n Bail event will get people excited about the foundation and the work it does and encourage them to take part in the 24-hour giving challenge.

“We hope that everybody is going to get excited about it and that they’ll think it’s fun,” she enthuses. “It’s just a fun way to engage people and maybe make the day at work a little more lighthearted. You’re going to have the excitement of maybe having one of your co-workers be in jail, or maybe the anticipation of possibly being snitched on.”

Kryschuk says she is confident that the community will get involved and embrace the opportunity to do good while having a great time.

“Neepawa is a pretty amazing place for things that can happen and how much we can do when we work together as a community” she affirms. “It’s my hope that the Jail n Bail fundraiser will create that community awareness as well as get people involved in raising funds for the community foundation.”

Anyone interested in taking part in the Jail n Bail event can find more information at beautifulplainscf.ca. Forms to participate must be submitted by Nov. 7.