Fundraising efforts are in full swing for the Killarney New Horizon Seniors' Centre's expansion project. Local residents have been attending a variety of summer events to work their way up to the $300,000 cost to expand the building 30 feet to the front of the building on Mountain Avenue.
New Horizon Seniors' President, Barb Case, says the reason for the expansion was quite simple; they've outgrown their facility.
"We are just crunched. When we have gatherings, we can only seat about 60 people, and we have a membership of closer to 90. We just needed more space, especially for things like cribbage tournaments and potlucks," explains Case. "Our shuffleboard needed more space. We are congested at our entrance. And so, we decided we just need to bite the bullet and try to expand the building as far as we can."
"We're hoping maybe in another phase that we would maybe possibly do something at the back of the building as well. But our first ideas are just to work at the front and to get that extra space out the front," she adds.
Case says the $300,000 price tag is a ball-park figure, as they're still in the process of acquiring drawings, blueprints and quotes for the project, but that's their goal.
Currently they're seeking out both federal and provincial grants, this in addition to reaching out to their local community for support. Case is quick to add that the community support has been amazing at the different events they've attended thus far from their local Co-op and other area businesses.
The big fundraiser right now is the Mega Raffle where organizations and businesses have stepped up to the plate to share in the prizing.
"We have some big prizes that have been donated this year," says Case. "We have concert tickets for the Heritage House for their winter concert series. That's to a total of around $400. We have a $300 gift certificate from Killarney Meats. We have restaurant cards to a value of $279 from Oak & Owl, the Beach Hut, Wu's, Willow Lodge, Subway, and the Blarney Stone."
"And then we have a golf package from Killarney Lakeside Golf Club for $264," she adds. "So quite a number of big prizes this year!"
The draw date for the Mega Raffle is October 24th at 7 pm, so there's plenty of time to purchase your $5 tickets, says Case.
The big push to raise funds will continue throughout the fall and winter months with hopes to break ground early next summer.
"We would really like to get started next year. Of course, all our fundraising isn't going to bring us anywhere near what's needed. So, we are going to have to be applying for grants to try and cover these big costs. We have maybe raised $20,000 at this point, but yeah, we will definitely need some grants to help us out with these costs. It's a big project."
Case encourages Killarney residents and visitors to keep their eyes open for opportunities to purchase raffle tickets for chances to win some really great prizes! As well, raffle tickets are available at participating businesses in Killarney.