Emily and Sarah Dahlgren have been fundraising for the last couple of months in an effort to raise $50K for the Helping Hand Food Bank’s Holiday Hamper program. This week marks the final week of the girl’s collections from various local businesses that helped campaign for their cause.
On Tuesday afternoon, the sisters stopped by Firehouse Subs in Bradford to pick up a cheque from owner Jon Chang in the amount of $275 from a fundraiser hosted at the sub shop almost two weeks ago. Chang donated $1 from every medium or large sub sold during the one-day event towards the girl’s campaign and raised an additional $432.80 from a toonie jar that was also placed at the store’s front counter, bringing the total amount raised at Firehouse Subs to $707.80.
“This is the first time we’ve done something like this since we opened,” states Chang, noting the store just opened in July of this year. “A lot of people need help right now and these girls are inspiring."
Local MP Scot Davidson, who has been helping promote A Bradford Christmas campaign since the start of their journey, matched the donation at Firehouse Subs and presented the sisters with an additional cheque for $707.80.
“These girls started off small and always set their sights high,” notes MP Davidson, adding that especially in the middle of Covid the girls were still able to pull off raising over $31K so far. “Even during tough times, they are finding that extra money to give back."
This is MP Davidson’s second time matching a donation for A Bradford Christmas, with the first donation match taking place at Bradford’s Freshii during a similar fundraising event.
After their stop at Firehouse Subs, the girls were ushered over to Bradford Dentistry where another cheque awaited them in the amount of $1,000 donated by Dr. Jesse Chai.
“We usually do a donation every year but because of Covid we couldn’t put a box out for toys or a food drive,” explains Dr. Chai. “A patient told us about [A Bradford Christmas] and their fundraiser so we wanted to donate to them knowing it would go directly to a good cause… it’s a big, big goal and they should be very proud of themselves!”
Last week, Adriana Salinas from Adriana's Hair Salon and Jenn Phan of Jacqueline's Nails invited the girls to their 2 in 1 salon to present them with $70 in cheques as well as their toonie jar collections from clients.
"I had to be part of it because we need to help," said Salinas, who has lived and worked in Bradford for over 30 years, and just recently moved to Auruora.
A Bradford Christmas’ silent auction closed officially at midnight yesterday and the girls have yet to tally the amount raised from the auction, as well a final amount still needed to be calculated from a recent fundraiser at Hacienda’s Mexican restaurant in Bradford who also helped promote the campaign.
“Last year we thought about doing a silent auction but never got around to it,” mentions Sarah Dahlgren.
“But right from day one [this year] we decided to do the auction,” adds Emily Dahlgren. “It was very successful!”
Thursday morning, all final numbers from A Bradford Christmas’ fundraising effort will be totalled and a grand cheque presentation to the Helping Hand Food Bank will take place outdoors at the Bradford Community Centre.
The entire Town of Bradford looks forward to hearing the final amount raised by the Dahlgren sisters for the Food Bank’s holiday hampers.