Project SHARE is gearing up for it’s annual Pre-Game Souper Bowl Party this Sunday, January 8th at the New Beginnings Loft. Local youth groups will come together to tackle hunger and raise money for Project SHARE through a fundraiser called “Souper Bowl of Caring”. This national fundraiser focuses on hunger in local communities and encourages youth to come together and take action. M&T Bank partnered with Project SHARE to provide a matching challenge to our local youth. The team that raises the most money on average for Project SHARE will win the 2012 M&T Matching Challenge Trophy and a free post-game party celebration! Last year, local teens raised almost $12,000 for those in need! If your youth group or organization plans on participating in the M&T challenge please contact us to RSVP for the event. If your team will be taking a collection but cannot attend the event please let us know that, too. Who will be the winners this year? Will The Refuge of the New Beginnings Loft keep the trophy for another year? We’ll keep you posted!
Project SHARE seemed like it would just be another client for 717 Studios, which was building the non-profit’s website, but after co-owner Zach Zeigler saw what the organization did, it became something of a mission to help it and the community. “We just completed their website, and when we went out to see them, we were just amazed at how huge their operation is,” Zeigler said. “We’ve heard about them, but that was it. You don’t really get a sense of all they do there until you visit.” Not long after, the web and print branding company decided to put together its first fundraiser - Claus Cause - which would collect donations and money for the Carlisle food pantry. Instead of a regular fundraiser, though, 717 Studios decided to employ the help of some of its clients. “Instead of just writing a check, we thought we’d be a little more creative and donate our skills and services,” Zeigler said. What 717 Studios did was call Carlisle businesses for whom it created websites and logos and organized a number of fundraisers to fall under the umbrella of one huge fundraiser for Project SHARE. Among those participating is 5th Avenue salon in Carlisle. The alternative type of fundraiser ended up being exactly what the salon needed after moving to its new location at 1911 W. Trindle Road in Carlisle in mid-July.
“We wanted to do an open house back in September and October - we wanted to showcase our salon to the public, but we just weren’t able to put it together,” said co-owner Jessica McCoy. “We thought this kind of event would be perfect. We’d get to showcase our salon and raise money for Project SHARE. I think it makes it easier for us to have another business get the word out about what we’re doing. It also helps a lot of local businesses.”
For the businesses participating in the event, Claus Cause not only raises money for Project SHARE, but it also raises awareness of what is available in Carlisle. Market Cross Pub & Brewery held its fundraiser in November, Raudabaugh’s Barber Shop collected its donations on Monday, and a number of other businesses will add to that list of events. The Back Door Cafe on West High Street will donate 10 percent of its sales every Thursday evening and one of its waitresses will donate 50 percent of her tips on those days. From now until Dec. 21, The Garden Gallery will give $75 gift certificates on single framing and restoration orders to those who donate $25 to Project SHARE. Meadowbrooke Gourds will have a silent auction on Saturday evening in which its proceeds will also go to the non-profit. 5th Avenue will have its fundraiser, Give for Glam, this Friday from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. and will feature what it and a few other businesses in Carlisle have to offer.
K Marie & Company will join 5th Avenue at its event to showcase some of the accessories the downtown Carlisle shop has to offer, while The Green Room will provide the refreshments at the event.
Along with those businesses, the staff at 5th Avenue will focus on the holiday season with some services of their own. “With the holidays, it’s a great time, because so many people are going to holiday parties,” co-owner Tiffany Moll said. “I think if you’re going to a holiday party, you should look different than how you normally look… but not everyone knows how to do that,” McCoy said. “(The stylists) will be doing individual consultations. They’ll have about 15 minutes with each person, and the make-up artist will do the same. You’ll get a lot of free advice and service and food.” Admission only costs two cans of donated food or a monetary donation to Project SHARE, though raffles for a spa package and product baskets may provide much more money for Project SHARE. And the non-profit is thrilled by what the Carlisle businesses are doing.
“It’s so wonderful of them to do this for us,” said Nicole Deary, spokeswoman for Project SHARE. “We’re so moved by what they did, and it’s such a clever idea. The fundraiser really helps, because donations usually drop off after the holidays. This kind of levels us out in the winter months.”
For more information about all of the events to raise money for Project SHARE, go to www.clauscause.717studios.com.
Help provide a Thanksgiving meal to a family in need this holiday season! Items that need to be included in a Thanksgiving bag include: stuffing mix, can of yams, canned fruit, green beans, cranberry sauce, jar of turkey gravy, instant bread mix, 100% juice, boxed dessert mix and a card of encouragement. Or you can let us do the shopping for you with a monetary gift! We can provide one family with a Thanksgiving dinner bag for $15, a dinner bag and turkey for $27, and $100 will provide a complete Thanksgiving meal for almost 4 of our recipient families. Visit our virtual food drive and help make Thanksgiving special for our neighbors in need.
