By William Crooks
Local Journalism Initiative
The Friends of Massey-Vanier Vikings’ (FMVV) fundraising to lessen the costs of participating in sports at the high school is going well, says spokesperson Bob Kay, but it is not over. The Record spoke with Kay over the phone for an update.
“[The FMVV] raised quite a bit of money, but there’s still lots of work to do,” Kay began. He does not want to give people the impression they are done. They have raised enough to cut the fees at Massey-Vanier by half for soccer and cross-country running.
A basketball-a-thon is coming up in November, he continued, which will involve a full 24-hour day of basketball. They will also hold a “boot drive”; a spot, likely a grocery store parking lot, will be picked in the area where fundraisers will stand and collect money and hand out pamphlets. This will happen in late April or early May, he explained. The FMVV is still on the lookout for grants and donations from local foundations.
The FMVV had a kiosk at this year’s Brome Fair. “We did very, very well,” he insisted, a lot of people dropped by, picked up pledge forms and donated. The FMVV has non-profit status, he explained, so donations come with a tax receipt. When their website gets up and running, they will email donors and tell them what to do. So far, they have lessened the sports fees, but they aim to get them down to zero, he said.
Kay, on behalf of the FMVV, thanked everyone for their donations “no matter how big or small”. Kay thinks they must have done something right at Massey-Vanier for their alumni to end up so supportive.
