One week after moving into the new building, a West End ministry is heading to the pickleball court.
Living Bible Explorers recently moved into the new location of 590 Alverstone Street from 600 Burnell Street. Cher Paulson, Executive Director of LBE said the move has been a success, but couldn't be done alone. "We've moved everything but our offices and four chest freezers and we actually had Quick Transfer Moving Company donate a truck and three guys to help us on Saturday and we had 25 volunteers. We moved over to the new building in three-and-a-half hours."
Paulson said the goal is to have programs running in the new space on April 10.
Now as the ministry gets settled into the new space, another big Saturday is on the way this week. "We decided to do a pickleball tournament just to get some different people to know about LBE. We landed on pickleball because I keep hearing about this pickleball and it's all the rage these days," Paulson said.
After registration closed, Paulson is excited with the response. "We have 32 teams. There's 16 novice and 16 intermediate and they're going to do a round-robin tournament on Saturday, starting at 9 a.m., and it'll probably go until 3:30."
While registration is full, CHVN listeners are invited to come out and watch. "We need people to come and spectate, come and cheer, even if you don't know who's playing, it's still going to be a fun day. You can buy tickets for prizes."
Some of the prizes up for grabs are tickets to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, the Winnipeg Sea Bears, and the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. Food will also be available for purchase. "
All of the money raised is going towards LBE's operational budget to keep the ministry going strong. "The operational budget goes to staffing, programming, and keeping our vehicles up. For almost all of our programming we go and pick up our clientele and bring people, bring the families, bring the kids. And so a lot goes into that. Now with our new building, we've got new and bigger bills to pay."
While there are added costs, Paulson said it's for a good reason. "It takes a lot to put on a ministry like that, but it's all about sharing Jesus with the families and kids and being a light in that community. And we're just so excited to be there."
Living Bible Explorers Pickleball Tournament Fundraiser at the Y Downtown, 301 Vaughan Street on April 5 from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.