A group of Ecole St. Gerard parents are once again raising money for a playground at their children’s new school. The Playground Fundraising Society will be hosting its second annual Mom and Son Western Night Out on February 29th.
Society President Mark Woods says all the money raised will go towards a playground at the school site currently being built in O’Brien Lake.
“We’re told by the end of 2021 we’ll be in that site and of course, although there is some money towards it, there’s not enough for the playgrounds that we’ll need so we’re trying to make sure we have playgrounds ready when the kids move in.”
There is no age limit to attend the event but Woods says its catered towards children ages two to 10. There will be a dinner, dance, auction and activities for the kids including calf roping and panning for gold. He says they decided to hold a mother and son event after seeing the success of another local event, 2day FM’s FatherDaughter Ball.
“Grande Prairie has this father-daughter dance which is fantastic and well received by dads and daughters but there’s nothing for the moms and the sons so we gave it a try last year and it was successful from a fundraising perspective.”
The total cost of the new playground will be around $550,000 with the group has currently raised around $270,000.
The event will be held at Ecole St. Gerard School on 88 Avenue. Doors open at 3 p.m. and the event runs until 9 p.m. Tickets can be found at Eventbrite.