Pie in the FESA: May Recap and Announcements

It’s been just over a month since the start of our "Pie in the FESA" fundraiser. In that time, there has been a lot of developments: here at FESA, in Calgary, and in Canada. But we’re just going to stick to the first two.

Pie in the FESA amount raised:

• We are excited to announce that we’ve already raised $2,625! So, first off, thank you to everyone who has donated! Next up, we want to thank our wonderful Board Members who all agreed to this rather quirky fundraising strategy, but we’ve all been having fun. As well, all donations are being matched up to 50% by Shaw Birdies for Kids presented by AltaLink.

Board Member fundraiser rankings:

• It’s still early in our fundraiser, but if we were to hold a pieing today the rankings would be as such: Donna is first with $1,450 raised; second is Deveeda who has raised $375; and third is Ian who has raised $200. Things are pretty up in the air and it’s impossible to guess who will be the penultimate trio getting pied — remember, if we reach our goal of $10,000, then all Board Members will get pied. If we all pitch in together, we can make sure everybody has pie on their face.

Message from Board President Donna Rapp:

• Over the last couple weeks, Donna shared a few video messages on social media channels. You can watch her first video below.

Upcoming blog posts:

• With so many developments and updates, we wanted to give you a peek into what we have planned for the following weeks. You'll be able to get to know more of our Board Members as we’ve got more pie profiles coming (get ready to meet Jenna Truong and Jessica Spicer).

• All this talk of pies is probably making you want some of that sweet, flaky treat — I know I’ve been craving it — so, we’re going to be sharing an old family recipe with you soon. Not only will you be able to make this simple treat, but it’ll be a great opportunity for you and your family to practice reading, document use, numeracy, writing, oral communication, working with others, thinking, and digital technology — which are the nine essential skills!

• Our artist in resident, Mariah, has been hard at work creating more colouring pages for the young learners. Along with these new pages, we’ll be sharing work by young program participants, and with any luck, some of their learner stories as well.

• With the ongoing health crisis forcing groups to stay apart, we’ve shifted from in-person to online to keep our free programs available to all. It has been a challenge and we wanted to provide an opportunity to our facilitators to share their experiences.

Upcoming Secret Surprise:

• And lastly — and the only thing lastly about this section is its placement — we want to share with you a little surprise. We are going to have a big announcement in the coming days. Here’s a hint. It’s going to involve pie. We can’t share too many details as things are still being worked out, but we are beyond excited and can’t wait to share the news!