By JAMES BELL
Hays Post
The annual Holy Family Elementary Chili Supper and Bazar is set for the end of January, but while the fundraiser will once again bring the community together to support the school, organizers have made some changes to the annual event.
“We're changing from dinner to lunch, so it will be 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. this year on Sunday the 29th,” said parent volunteer Jessica Acosta.
With the move to lunch, she said they hope to be able to allow more people to partake.
“We're trying to pull in different crowds,” Acosta said. “People don't necessarily want to spend their Sunday evening when they have to get kids up ready for school the next day. … We just want to see if we can pull in some more people and have everybody enjoy it.”
The event, while a fundraiser for Holy Family Elementary, is open to the public.
“We like to open up our chili supper to the whole community,” Acosta said. “Let everybody come in and enjoy games for the kids, bingo, cakewalk, other carnival-style games, and then enjoy looking at the silent auction and looking at the raffle items that they can submit tickets for.”
While the chili supper is set for Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., silent auctions will be open for the public to view on Saturday. The auction also will be available online.
“All the bidding can be done online from the comfort of your home,” Acosta said. “And then we'll have the Book Fair running the day of the chili supper, and then that will also go through Catholic Schools Week.”
For those wanting to grab and go, a takeout option will again be available during the chili supper on the south side of the school, she said.
Funds raised from those events will help school operations throughout the year.
And while planning is underway, Acosta said donations are still welcome.
“I think the biggest thing that we're still kind of wanting to get out there is they can still donate for the silent auction,” she said. “That can be turned into the school, or they could call the girls that are in charge of that, Kelsi Pfannenstiel and Natalie Ellis.”
All donations are welcome and include various items from community members, businesses and organizations.
“People donate Apple Watches and craft items,” Acosta said. “We have always a couple of people donate gift certificates to get their hair done and stuff like that.”
And she said large items like TVs are also typically donated as well.
While the deadline for raffle donations pledges has passed and the final list has not been released, Acosta said, donations include a school enrollment fee, gift cards and a Traeger.
Tickets for the event can be purchased ahead of time or the at the door.
