OUTCOMES OF THE 2009 MARDA GRAS STREET FESTIVALDear Marda Loop BRZ Members & Visitors, Many of you may be wondering what the outcomes from our Marda Gras Street Festival were. Here are a few highlights that we can all be proud of.Some 35,000 attended our event and we were host to 155 businesses, non-profit organizations, interactive educational providers and unique artisans who chose to participate on Sunday, August 9th. The new features that drew attention this year were the Eco Centre where over 30 sustainably-based organizations and several City of Calgary partners participated in our Speakers Corner came to help Calgarians understand and adopt new behaviors to reduce water consumption, compost, reduce their carbon footprint and more. There was even a water truck where anyone could fill their water bottle for free that day! A solar powered entertainment stage, and giant recycling and on-site trash containers made for a green, clean event! For ecological outcomes click here. The family fun area had bike racks, basketball and ball hockey equipment for everyone to use and enjoy. The new Silent Auction, Fishing Pond, the donation of our recyclables and hosting the Volunteer Appreciation event at the South Calgary Outdoor Pool helped them raise nearly $1,000. Other fund-raising efforts included benefitting the Calgary Women's Emergency Shelter, and the St. Peter the Aleut Church Café, which raised $1944 through their bake sale. The money raised was divided between to 2 orphanages: The St. Nicholas Uganda Children's Fund to supply the required uniform, tuition and books for children to be able to go to school. The funds donated to Kathy's Kids in Romania went to employ a few poor women who buy healthy food so they may go into the hospitals and -- as far as they are permitted by the authorities - feed the orphans the purchased healthy food and hold the babies Some are even able to bring some of these children to a strong enough state where they may be adopted. Thank you to everyone involved in the 2009 event for making the 25th Annual Marda Gras Street Festival a great success - and a special thanks to all of our 2009 sponsors:
|