Organizations and businesses are stepping up efforts to raise more funds for the Sooke Gathering Place.
“The number of fundraising initiatives speaks to the community’s determination to support the project,” said Mary Dunn, vice-president of the Sooke Region Community Heath Network (SRCHN), the driving force behind the project.
The Gathering Place will provide a place for people to live in Sooke independently, and with vitality, Dunn said.
Plans call for a multi-use building with affordable housing for those 55 and older, 5,000 square feet of community space including a commercial kitchen, and rooms organizations or community members can rent for meetings or activities.
The space would also include an elders drop-in centre with inter-generational programs to foster relationships between youth and elders.
The Sooke Harbour Players is donating all the profits from The Big Bluff and other Tiny Triumphs Show to the Gathering Place. The fundraiser will serve up a blend of comedy, cabaret, nightlife experience, and after party featuring an eclectic mix of local and professional artists, performers and musicians.
The event is at Sooke Community Hall on Nov. 4 at 7 p.m. Tickets are $25 and can be purchased at youcantstopsilly.com, or at Forbes Pharmacy, The Stick Roastoreum, Cafe Vosino, Pharmasave, The Castle, Sooke Arts Gallery, Shirley Delicious, and East Sooke General Store.
Proceeds from the Sooke Arts Council’s Plein Air event’s art sales will go to the Sooke Gathering Place. The blind auction art sales event runs until Nov. 12, with information at Sooke Arts Council’s Facebook page.
Phoebe Dunbar and Linda Teneycke are donating proceeds from Wood Art at the Craft Fair ande Artisans Market on Nov. 11 and 12 at Sooke Community Hall.
My Place Family Salon owner Barb Dias is donating $3 from every haircut in November and December.
“I want to challenge everyone in the personal care industry to do the same,” Dias said.
Marlene Barry, owner of Reflexology 4 You, is donating $4 from every session in November and December as well.
Sooke Rotary is challenging local businesses and organizations to match the $8,000 donation it made in June.
ALSO READ: Sooke Arts Council gives boost to Gathering Place fundraising
SRCHN has decided to delay submitting their funding proposal to B.C. Housing until November. This decision was made following the announcement that Sooke is not one of the 10 communities in B.C. that will receive top priority at this time.
“We are working hard to get ourselves aligned for the next (funding) call,” Dunn said
The total raised for the Sooke Gathering Place to date is $140,000.