BIG4 Adventure Whitsunday Resort has raised a staggering total of $8970.18 for two local community centres from its annual Camp and sCare charity event over the weekend. The popular Halloween family mini-break for a good cause was once again a sell-out, with all cabins and sites booked and over 1,000 excited children and parents enjoying plenty of spooky fun.
Camp and sCare is an annual charity weekend held by BIG4 Adventure Whitsunday Resort, not only to raise funds, but to also offer a special family experience for local residents to enjoy the great outdoors for a night of camping under the stars, or in the comfort of a cabin, and to enjoy all of the resort’s extensive facilities. Each year, the resort chooses a charity, individual or business to support and raise funds for. This year, the total amount raised has been split equally and donated to two local community centres, the Whitsunday Neighbourhood Centre and the Proserpine Community Centre, to assist local residents in need by providing gifts and food in the lead up to Christmas. These donations complement BIG4 Adventure Whitsunday Resort’s regular donations to the two centres through their ongoing Containers For Change program.
Each year, the Whitsunday Neighbourhood Centre holds a Christmas Pop Up stall on 01 December, whereby locals who need the support are able to choose a gift for their children prior to Christmas, with presents also distributed to Bowen residents. The Proserpine Community Centre’s focus for Christmas and in the lead up to it, is supplying food for those in need. Each centre will receive $4,485.09 from BIG4 Adventure Whitsunday Resort’s Camp and sCare fundraising, which will go towards the purchase of these presents and food supplies.
Proserpine Community Centre Co-ordinator, Ingrid Ruck, said they were already developing a plan for distribution of the funds. “We know that our main focus at this time is to feed our locals who need support at this time of year. We will be fair and consistent, allocating the best use of the charity and using avenues that we found have worked, including collaborating with our partner organisations, such as Anglicare Low Cost Food Assist, in the lead up to Christmas. We are so grateful to have received this donation from BIG4 Adventure Whitsunday Resort and our local community. I did have a little tear in my eye when we were presented with the donation as we certainly weren’t expecting it to be the amount that it was and so much more than we imagined. We can now focus on the plans we had hoped to implement, and more, in terms of food distribution, so we are in the process of moving ahead and putting everything into action.”
BIG4 Adventure Whitsunday Resort Marketing Manager, Tanya Cran, said, “While Camp and sCare is always a big event for us, this year’s fundraising total was a record, almost doubling what we made last year. We are so pleased to be able to support our local community through these centres, with the purchase of food and gifts for residents who may be struggling in the lead up to this special time of year. We don’t want anyone to miss out on the magic of Christmas and the opportunity to help bring joy to these people in need is what Christmas is all about.”
Over the weekend, money was raised from Friday night camp site bookings, raffles and a range of activities. Guests went all out decorating for the spookiest campsite, cabin, pumpkin, family costume and individual costume competitions, which saw sites and cabins transformed into spooky haunts, and guests young and old dressed up in creepy costumes, creating an atmosphere to rival any Halloween celebrations.
From the moment of check-in for the Camp and sCare charity event, families had a weekend of Halloween style activities at their fingertips including gold coin donation activities such as pumpkin carving, face painting, Halloween craft workshops, a huge sausage sizzle and pancakes by the pool breakfast. On top of the special organised activities, the resort offered plenty of free entertainment with a host of amazing facilities, including the huge slide water park, animal park feeding and Halloween themed movies at the outdoor cinema.
Mrs Cran continued, “We always have great support, not only from the local residents and visitors who attend this event, but from our local friends and partners, so we must make a special mention and pass on a big thanks to Stackelroth Farmers in Bowen, who donated 350 pumpkins to distribute to the spooky youngsters for carving and decorating, The Prickly Pineapple, who helped co-ordinate and deliver those special pumpkins, as well as the R.U.B.Y Crew from Bowen PCYC for their fantastic face painting. We were also given some amazing raffle prizes with a big shout out to Ocean Rafting, Cruise Whitsundays, Freedom Shores & Northerlies, Reef Gateway, Fishi, Little Vintage Café, Intuitive Massage and Sukin. Of course, we can’t say thank you enough to all of our amazing guests for staying with us and donating, as well as our own team who volunteered their time to make the event the success that it was. It just shows how strong our community is when we come together, particularly through what, once again, has been a challenging year for everyone.