A fundraising committee is hoping to sell more raffle tickets ahead of a 90s-themed party, to support the transportation costs for the Boys and Girls Club (BGC) of Sarnia-Lambton.
A 90s Hip Hop/ Club 404 event will be held at Imperial City Brew House on Saturday, August 26, beginning at 7 p.m. The event will feature DJ Phatfingers.
Money raised through the event will go toward the purchase of a van to take more kids to the BGC's after school program.
"We probably have about seven schools with multiple children on our waitlist who are unable to receive safe transportation to our club," said BGC Executive Director Jaylene Henry. "We have, in total, over 20 children on this waitlist from those seven schools and it's continuing to grow almost daily."
Henry said the after school program runs Monday to Friday until 6 p.m.
"The majority of our kids are bused here from their schools and we send staff to different drop-off locations to pick them up," Henry said. "This just allows parents to be able to finish their work day and they can pick them up here when they're done work, or some of our parents are having a hard time even looking for work because the typical job day does not stop at 3 p.m. when they're done school."
Henry said she has applied for grant funding but as it stands, fundraisers will be the driving force behind the transportation campaign. In order to help the cause, a sub-committee was created.
Committee member Jason Brown said a new 15-passenger Transit Van cost around $68,000.
A large portion of funds raised through the Club 404 event will come through raffle ticket purchases.
One of the raffle prizes is a 2023 Outlander four-wheeler. Tickets will be sold at $100 each and only 300 will be available.
Brown said ticket sales have been slow so far.
The second raffle prize is a roundtrip flight to any regularly scheduled WestJet destination for two people. Ticket prices are one for $5, three for $10, and 12 for $35 and a maximum of 2,500 raffle tickets will be sold.
In addition to the raffle contests, Brown said there will also be a best dressed contest.
Entry tickets for the event can be purchased at the door for $10 each. Brown said those who buy a four-wheeler raffle ticket will get automatic entry.
Links to purchase raffle tickets can be found on the event's Facebook page.
