Get your vehicle washed and enjoy a barbecued hot dog on Aug. 14th all for a couple of terrific causes.
Rimbey Boys and Girls Club and Big Brothers Big Sisters of Rimbey are holding the fundraiser in partnership with the Rimbey United Church. Proceeds will help cover costs of some upcoming fall programs, such as regular after-school programming, and ongoing mentoring programs as well.
“On Aug. 14th from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. we will be having a car wash and barbecue in the Rimbey United Church parking lot,” said Alyssa Belsey, program director for Big Brothers Big Sisters and the Boys and Girls Clubs of Wolf Creek - Rimbey.
“Pastor Marco (of the United Church) does the ‘Walking Through Rimbey’ video series, and we just filmed one for Big Brother Big Sisters, which will be going out soon,” she added. “The car wash will be $5, and the barbecue is ‘pay what you can’. If you don’t want to get your car washed, people can also come for a hot dog,” she said.
“I should also add that Big Brothers Big Sisters Rimbey is celebrating their 10-year anniversary of the program in Rimbey this year!”
These days, Belsey is also busy with Boys and Girls Club summer programming. “It’s been awesome! With the restrictions having lifted, we’ve been able to take the kids swimming and we went to a donkey farm - we’ve been able to do lots of fun things with less limitations,” she said.
For Belsey, who began her post with the organizations last fall, this fundraiser marks the first public fundraising-type event that she’s been able to have due to the pandemic restrictions over the past year.
She’s happy to be able to meet with local folks and hopes residents drop by for a visit and to support these very worthy causes. “We are so excited to be able to see everyone again.”
Looking ahead, September is ‘Big Brothers Big Sisters Month’.
It’s a time when staff and volunteers really work to highlight the need for more mentors to work with local youth. And even further down the road, January is ‘Mentoring month’ which has a similar focus.
“We are always looking for new mentors,” she explained, adding that there is almost always a waiting list of kids waiting for a big brother or a big sister.
People can sign up as either in in-school mentor or what is described as a traditional mentor. In-school mentors follow a school schedule and spend an hour each week with their little brother or little sister, whereas traditional mentoring offers more flexibility in terms of choosing other activities in the community to take part in each week.
Belsey said the feedback she receives from mentors about the experience is always so positive. “You don’t need any sort of special skill set to be a mentor,” she said. “The fundamental thing that you need is to care enough to want to make a difference in the lives of youth,” she said.
“Anyone and everyone could be a mentor.”
According to the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada web site, the organization has provided life-changing mentoring experiences since 1912. “This year alone, Big Brothers Big Sisters impacted over 41,000 youth in over 1,100 communities across Canada.”
For more about the Boys and Girls Club or Big Brothers, Big Sisters, call 403-843-1066 or find them on Facebook at ‘Big Brothers Big Sisters of Rimbey’ or ‘Boys and Girls Clubs of Wolf Creek-Rimbey’.