Scrapbooking to help dance studio, food bank

Today (Saturday), scrapbookers from across the region will pack up their supplies and convene at the Elmira Curling Club to help raise funds for dancers at Encore Dance Studio in Elmira and to collect much-needed food for the local food bank. Organizers hope to see some 50 scrapbook enthusiasts out in for their second annual event.

“Last year was our first time, and this year we’re way more efficient at it,” laughed Christa Uttley, who has spent the past year organizing the event with co-coordinator Ann Jobes.

Their first fundraiser saw some 30 people out and raised about $200 to help offset some of the costs of the dance studio. The group also collected about 200 pounds of food and they hope to improve on those numbers their second time around.

“It’s something that Ann and I do for our own hobby and it just made sense,” said Uttley, who has been scrapbooking since 1996.

The pair also hopes a more robust raffle table and list of prizes and scrapbooking goodies will encourage more people to come out and help them with their cause.

They have donations from Canadian scrapbook companies such as Harmonie, Canadian Scrapbooker magazine, Scrapbooking and Cards Today magazine and others, as well as local shops such as Inspiring Accents in Elmira and Scrapbooking Turtle in St. Jacobs.

They even have a donation from an Australian company called Dusty Attic.

“Ann sent out over 1,000 emails worldwide to England, Australia and locally, and we can then provide supplies as prizes or as part of the raffle table or games that we play while we’re there,” said Uttley.

She said the idea came to them last year when they wanted to find a unique way to raise funds to offset the dance costs at the studio, which Uttley’s daughter Adriane and Ann’s daughter Sarah both attend.

The director and owner of the studio agreed with the idea and felt it was a creative way to raise fundsy.

“I’ve been through a lot of dance studios in my career and as a teacher, and I’ve seen tons of fundraising, and it’s all pretty much the same,” said Chrystal Mazzotta.

“This is something that I’ve never seen before so it’s something different and something that is new and it’s a great idea.”

The event also provides lunch and dinner to the participants courtesy of No Frills and Sobeys. The cost to participate is $40. For more information call Uttley at (519) 210-0093 or check out their blog at http://inkspiration.typepad.com/encorecrop.