SOUTH GLENGARRY, Ontario – Gray’s Creek Holiday Sparkle celebrated its final evening of their drive-through light experience, last night, Dec. 20. After an extremely successful couple of weeks and the joy it brought to the community, the Holiday Sparkle team wants to thank all of their sponsors, donors, volunteers, tree decorators, businesses, partners, and so many more for making the event a success!
A few partners who helped make the event possible on the ground, were both Cornwall Tourism and the Raisin Region Conservation Authority.
The event organizer and founder of The experienCity Project, Kelly Bergeron, had this to say about the outpouring of support: “The Holiday Sparkle event snowballed into something so much bigger than we imagined and surpassed all of our expectations. The event also served to highlight the benefits of placemaking initiatives and the positive benefits they bring to a community.”
The event was free but donations were welcome and overwhelming. With over $16,000 raised for the United Way and over 15,000 pounds of food raised for the Agape Centre, the event’s organizers are so grateful for the tremendous support that came from all corners of the community. Some of the other key accomplishments included:
- Over 5,300 vehicles were booked to drive through Gray’s Creek.
- Raised over $570 in monetary donations to the Agape Centre.
- Dozens of volunteers signed up, many who we had to put on a wait list, due to the abundance of sign ups.
- Over $10,000 in monetary sponsorships helped cover the cost of lights and installation. Over $20,000 of in-kind donations made the event possible, many organizations and businesses loaned generators.
- This past Saturday Holiday Sparkle was the backdrop of a wedding proposal.
- The event took a month to plan, and the organizers are looking at getting a huge head start to bring another experience like this back for Christmas 2021.
Thank you to the entire community who came out and shared the experience with so many positive comments shared over social media and in-person. The team at Holiday Sparkle is grateful to you all.
