Rain wasn't about to dampen the community spirits at the Jail N Bail held Sept. 20 in support of Seniors for Kids.
A jail cell, created by students of Building Futures, was filled with some despicable desperados whose crime was being good citizens of Cochrane.
The bail money paid to set them free has raised thousands for a program that enables seniors to become mentors or "school grandparents" to young people.
As of this morning, about $4,560 has been raised towards a $6,000 goal. Donations continue to be accepted and can be sent here.
"We are very appreciative to all our sponsors who have funded us over the years," says Lynn Noble, program coordinator. As we know, money is tight, and funds raised today will be going to our in-school programs to support our seniors and students of program this school year."
Seniors for Kids is in its 27th year of offering intergenerational programming in Cochrane.
"Our mandate is to meet the needs of students that don't have grandparents in the area," she explains. "We have seniors that we bring into schools to mentor those students who are part of our program," says Noble. "We run elementary, middle and high school programs."
Some of those youths were among those lending their support to the event.
Natonya Fedeyko was paired with a grandmother about 10 years ago when she was attending Westbrook School.
"She was one of my mentors from grades two to three. Pretty much ever since then, I've been supporting this program along with my mom, because it's super helpful not just to the kids, but also to the grandparents involved, and it forms like lifelong connections.
"We met with my grandma from 10 years ago just this summer, and she still recognized me."
Building Futures students, who come from Bow Valley and Cochrane High as well as Springbank, volunteered to build the jail. The program is in its 11th year and this year the students are building a home in Fireside.
"Kids for Seniors reached out to us and we built this, too, for them," says Lindsay Rous, one of the Building Futures teachers. "We practiced building it every day this week, so we could build it quickly this morning for locking people up."
They got it down to a half hour.
Logan Bli, one of the students building the jail, got a kick out of the event.
"I'm enjoying this a lot of, and I want to come back next time."
Lincoln Court was also enjoying the vibe.
"Something just felt right about the whole construction job," he says. "It's a good time."
Noble says they appreciation the assistance of the Building Futures program.
"We're very appreciative of the youth of our community that have come to support us today on this rainy day. We're having so much, and we're so grateful they're here."
Over an hour into the event, there were some longtime jailbirds still hoping friends would come by and bail them out.
They included former Cochrane Mayor Judy Stewart.
"I've got no friends," say laughs. "My family has disowned me!"
One convict was holding the sign, "Brian Winter is a gigantic pain in council's butt" hoping it would help encourage someone to bail him out.
"I probably have more enemies than friends," chuckles Winter. "Fortunately, my wife donated $50, then other people donated, and I came up with a hundred. It was a fun event."
The next fundraiser for Seniors for Kids is a masquerade party of Oct. 19, featuring the band Low Tide. Tickets are now on sale.
