The Growing Tree Preschool, located in Esterhazy, fell victim to bank fraud on October 19th. To save their preschool, an auction is being set up as one of many fundraisers to help get the preschool back to financial stability. The letter is as follows:
To our fellow community members and local businesses,
Today we are writing this letter in hopes that you will be willing to participate in our first fundraiser of the school year by donating a prize for our online auction. Our auction is slated to run from December 8th-December 10th, 2023.
Growing Tree Preschool opened as a small non-profit organization in 2007. Since then, it has grown into an essential service for our community’s littlest learners and their families and is proudly located in the heart of our local Elementary School. Our program not only creates the opportunity for more of our children to gain access to top quality early childhood education, but with our growth we have been able to employ four local individuals: our wonderful teacher and three wonderful Education Assistants. It has taken a lot of hard work from past parent boards and educators to grow this program into what it is, and we are so proud of what it has become!
However, as a non-profit organization we do rely heavily on the generosity of grants and community participation in our annual fundraisers. This year our organization was financially capable of covering the cost of our year with the goal of raising $20,000 to create stability for the following year. However, on October 19th our financial situation tragically changed as we fell victim to bank fraud. Our account was hacked with all of our funds stolen ($27,000) and we were put into a significant overdraft (an additional approx. $30,000). Currently we have been told that there is very little that can be done other than fundraising to keep our doors open, our teachers employed, and our children in their beloved program. This is our plea to the community to come together to help us keep our amazing program available to our area.
This year we will be doing all that we can as a board to save our preschool and this auction will be just one of many fundraisers on this journey to revive what we have lost. Your donation would mean so much to us as we have seen the success that other local organizations have had with online auctions. Should you choose to donate a prize, we will request that it be ready for pick up or drop off on Friday, December 1st 2023 at the latest so that we have time to showcase your wonderful prize! Of course, prizes can be picked up prior to that date at your convenience.
Monetary donations toward Growing Tree Preschool can be accepted at any time by using the following link:
http://www.CanadaHelps.org/en/charities/the-growing-tree-preschool-co-operative-ltd
For drop-off or pick-up of the prize, please contact: Suzannah McFadden at 204-761-2894 or Sophie Rausch at 306-745-9061.
Thank you sincerely,
The Growing Tree Board: Regan Ignatow, Breanne Hedstrom, Ashley Larson, Dawn Keller, Suzannah McFadden, Eliz Valencia and Andrea Bogard.