The RVH Auxiliary held a curling and Irish dance fundraiser last night in hopes of bringing them closer to their $2-million pledge for the Hearts and Minds campaign.
The Barrie Curling Club hosted a bonspiel and dinner party Saturday night, not only in the spirit of St. Patrick’s Day, but also to help the Hearts and Minds campaign at the Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre.
The president of the RVH Auxiliary, Elise McCourt, told BarrieToday that the event was about music and fun, but also about raising funds for a worthy cause.
“We’re running a campaign for the Hearts and Minds program and we pledged $2 million and are at $1.8 million right now, so we’re almost there,” said McCourt. “It is fundraisers like these that raise thousands of dollars at a time and help us meet our goals, which is great because we want to pay off this pledge by the fall of this year.”
While the final tally hadn’t been done as of yet, McCourt believes they raised around $6,000 at the St. Patrick’s Day weekend bonspiel from teams paying to play and from sponsors who assisted.
Curling and a dinner helped bring people in for the fundraiser, but the Hamilton School of Irish Dance stole the show with approximately 10 of the school’s dancers performing a 20-minute set before heading over to the Southshore Centre for another fundraiser.
Deirdre Hamilton is the owner and teacher at the school and said: “We have kids here tonight from ages seven to 17 and they prepare all year round for competitions, but it is events like this we love to participate in.
“To be able to help out and give back to such a great cause in our community is a great thing for the dancers and the school," Hamilton said.
