The Broughton Curling Club will be getting a much needed paint job, and it’s all thanks to the residents of Port McNeill.
The curling club has been looking to paint their building for a while now, but as a non-profit group, they generally are very tight on funds.
“We are entirely membership owned, we get no tax help from anybody, everything is raised and paid for by the members,” confirmed curling club president Clint Fiske, who added the club had originally been thinking of starting a GoFundMe to pay for the upgrades, but they just didn’t feel right about it due to the drastic effects the eight month logging strike and COVID-19 have had on their town.
That was when the Chilton Regional Arena decided to lend a hand.
“We at the arena thought maybe we could give them a hand fundraising a little to go towards their paint,” stated Shana Marshall, Arena Services Coordinator.
Marshall went and posted a campaign on social media to help find donors who would be willing to chip in for the cause.
“Between the arena’s Facebook page, my personal Facebook page and my own cell phone, they were blowing up with people contacting me wanting to help.”
She even had people messaging her all the way until 11:00 p.m. at night wanting to make a donation. “To make a long story short, we… exceeded our goal [$2,400] in less than 24 hours!” stated Marshall, who added the total number raised so far is close to $4,000.
With the extra cash soon to be in hand, Fiske noted they would be looking to spend it on fixing up the entrance to the rink.
“We definitely want to thank everybody for their contribution,” added Fiske. “It was quite unexpected for us… With the response we’ve gotten, clearly this shows the curling club means something to the town.”
Cindy Fiske, a longtime member of the curling club, also posted on social media thanking everyone for their donations.
“Port McNeill, this is incredible. The generosity of this community never ceases to amaze me! When we started out we wanted to just get graffiti covered on back of building and to update our entrance canopy. On behalf of the BCC we thank everyone who donated.”
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editor@northislandgazette.com
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