We held our very first annual Claus For A Cause, a Christmas community event, last week on Wednesday, December 1st. It was here at the Calhoun Depot where our offices are and we were blown away by the support, sponsors, and most of all, the attendance and engagement from our community. While we did hope to raise a little money for our campaign, the primary goal was to engage our community and provide an opportunity for families to enjoy a Christmas party and free photos with Santa that may otherwise not be able to afford something like that.
When you start something new, especially in a small town that already has a lot of Christmas events, you really have no idea what to expect. It could be a small turnout of 20-30 people, or you could have the entire town show up. Thankfully, we ended up having over 300 people come through the doors, which was just amazing. Families enjoyed live Christmas music from a great local band, hot beverages and delicious desserts, of course the amazing photos and time with Santa and Mrs. Claus, Christmas crafts where kids could decorate and take home custom made ornaments, a fun selfie photo booth with a Christmas theme and free printed photo, and of course other great photo opportunities like the Chick-fil-A cows and an inflatable Snoopy.
We'd like to say another special thank you to all of our sponsors including our primary sponsor, Mannington Commercial. Thanks also to Chick-fil-A Calhoun, Synovus Bank, Starr Mathews Agency, Kent Chapman State Farm, HomeLight, Curtis Brinkley, Red Admiral Photo Booth, and also our United Way Board of Directors who came out to help volunteer at the event. All in all, we brought in over $2,500 between sponsors and donations at the door, which goes to helping our community partner agencies here in Gordon County as part of our 2022 campaign.
Speaking of our campaign, we are right at 95% of our goal of $750,000. Please consider donating, however big or small, to help us reach our goal. You can do so on our website or by sending a check or having it deducted from your paycheck if your employer runs a workplace campaign with us. We are so thankful for all who have given and supported us this past year. We are super excited about big things next year. Until then, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and yours from all of us here at United Way of Gordon County!!
