You’ve all probably been to the Festival of Trees at the Bektash Shrine Center.
You know, the fundraiser held the week of Thanksgiving each of the last 15 years where you can take in all the Christmassy sights and buy some raffle tickets for a chance to win a fake tree covered with all kind of goodies.
It’s been a big hit, raising lots of money for the Shriners, and ConcordTV is hoping to ride those coattails a little bit.
But instead of artificial trees filled with power tools, scratch tickets and Frozen memorabilia, ConcordTV is doing its fundraiser with Easter baskets. That’s right, the local nonprofit television station will be hosting an Easter Eggstravaganza at the Shrine Center the weekend before the Easter Bunny comes hopping into town.
And they need your help. Like the Festival of Trees, ConcordTV is relying on the community (that’s you) including individuals, families businesses and organizations to donate.
“This is the crucial year because it’s got to be a success in the first one,” said ConcordTV Executive Director Doris Ballard.
What they’re looking for is some pimped out Easter baskets that visitors to the Eggstravaganza would want to pony up some dough for – in the form of buying raffle tickets – for a chance to win one of the baskets to bring home.
“There’s so much competition with fundraising,” Ballard said. “This is an event that’s fun for all ages. It’s not just for kids.”
Since the Easter Eggstravaganza is slated for March 18-20, you have plenty of time to think about how you can make yours the most wanted basket of the bunch. Do you want to fill it with gold watches? How about tickets to Boston sporting events? Maybe lots of yummy candy could do the trick?
The possibilities are endless, which is why we wanted to give you as much time as possible to try and devise a noteworthy plan.
As of last week, there had been about 35 baskets committed to the event, but the goal is to have a lot more than that to raffle off so there’s plenty of room for any and all combinations.
“We want at least 100,” Ballard said.
Baskets can be dropped off the week of the event, either March 16-17 at ConcordTV’s studio at the Heights Community Center (14 Canterbury Road) or at the Bektash Shrine Center on the morning of March 18, which is the preferred method for the bigger baskets. And remember, there are no size restrictions so make it as big as you’d like. It doesn’t even have to be in a basket.
It’s also a good idea to let them know you’re participating, you know for planning purposes and getting identification cards with your name printed out, so just fill out the form at yourconcordtv.org.
“But we’re going to take them up until the last minute,” Ballard said.
ConcordTV is putting in a tower of power tools and another with toys – just for a few ideas. There will be prizes for best theme, most creative and people’s choice.
There’s all kinds of perks that comes along with your donation, too, including a thank you breakfast on Sunday.
Just remember, you can’t win if you don’t buy any raffle tickets, which will be sold at the event. And FYI, there will be an admission fee to get in, but it’s a fundraiser so it’s worth it. Money raised will help purchase new equipment for ConcordTV, which is mostly used by the community.
“They don’t have to buy raffle tickets, but why wouldn’t you want to,” Ballard said.
There will also be gifts, raffles, silent auction, children’s games, refreshments and even visits from the Easter Bunny. But we’ll cover all the nitty gritty details when the festivities get closer.
“There’s going to be a lot going on,” Ballard said.
And before we forget, there’s still time to enter the youth coloring contest. Unfortunately, we couldn’t enter because we didn’t quite meet the age requirements, but that didn’t keep Tim’s daughter, Sophie, from coloring a page. She sure is destined to be a very famous artist, don’t you think? Just look at those crisp lines.
For more info about the Eggstravaganza, to learn more about donating and to print off the coloring page, visit yourconcordtv.org.
