On February 14th, the Owen Sound Knights of Columbus Ontario Council 2092 presented a cheque for $25,000 to CMHA Grey Bruce Youth Awareness programs.
The donation was a result of proceeds from the immensely successful Radio Bingo, a partnership program between Bayshore Broadcasting and the Knights of Columbus.
This incredible donation brings the total amount donated to CMHA Grey Bruce to date to $45,000!
It seemed fitting that on a day set aside to show our love and appreciation to those close to us, that CMHA Grey Bruce had a chance to gather with the many people who make Radio Bingo so successful and show our love to all of them.
Radio Bingo was initiated by Bayshore Broadcasting in 2021 as a way to offer the community an opportunity to participate in an event that was fun, could be enjoyed from the safety of home and was a much needed fundraiser for community programs. To be successful, the fundraiser needed a team of hard working, community minded individuals to make the weekly drop offs and pick ups as well as secure and hold the Bingo license. The Owen Sound Knights of Columbus instantly came to mind and quickly jumped on board. The Knights of Columbus Council 2092 have a long and rich history of community work. Their membership is full of community minded individuals who are responsible for many events such as the successful and popular Friday night youth dances in the early 2000’s as well as multiple community fundraisers and special events held at the Owen Sound Knights Hall.
Radio Bingo also required multiple vendors to be the point of purchase of sale of the Bingo tickets in the community. Instantly, small businesses from across Grey Bruce stepped up to help. As a way of also supporting local small businesses, each vendor receives a portion of the ticket sales but many of the participating businesses donate their portion back each week.
Attending the cheque presentation were Fred Wallace and Steve Ritchie from AM 560 CFOS who host the Radio Bingo event every Wednesday at 2pm.
Also attending were the many volunteers who make the pick up and drop off deliveries across Grey Bruce each Wednesday.
Clark MacFarlane, CEO of CMHA Grey Bruce was on hand to speak to the importance of third-party fundraisers such as these in supporting the many non-government funded programs of the agency and to share his appreciation to all involved.
The Friends and Neighbours (FAN) Club program of Grey Bruce, provide wellbeing puppet presentations to children all across Grey Bruce, reaching over 7,000 students each year.
During the pandemic, the FAN Club program quickly pivoted to providing presentations virtually. Additionally, the staff and students of the youth awareness programs have also been creating “take home kits” of crafts, resource information and snacks. Over 4,500 of these kits have been distributed to children, youth and families across Grey Bruce. The proceeds of Radio Bingo fund these kits.
Since it began, Radio Bingo has generated over $90,000 which exceeds the original expectation of this fundraiser by leaps and bounds! Due to the enormous success of Radio Bingo, the program has since expanded and will be supporting an additional three community programs – Special Olympics, Grey Bruce Pregnancy Centre and Families for Autism.
There truly are not enough thank-you’s to go around to the many people that have made this fundraiser possible. Thank you to the many Radio Bingo card vendors, the Owen Sound Knights of Columbus members, staff of Bayshore Broadcasting and the hundreds of individuals who play each week.
Madeline Matcheski is an OSDSS student doing co-ops this semester with both CMHA and the Owen Sound Hub
