Backyard Summer Social Raises Nearly $42,000 in Support of Five Counties Kids

This year’s Backyard Summer Social event raised $41,664 for Five Counties Children’s Centre on Friday.

photo courtesy of five counties kids.

All event proceeds go to the Centre’s Building Abilities for Life campaign, which directly benefits children in the community to receive treatment services. This includes providing priority speech language therapy and occupational therapy as quickly as possible to children and youth who need them. 

“We know that the earlier a child can get into these programs, the better their outcome, which is why community support for our kids and families is so important,” says Scott Pepin, CEO of Five Counties. “We live in a very generous community, and the support shown us at our Backyard Summer Social is yet another example of people coming together to help our kids and families.”

A ‘unicorn’ from Critter Visits was on hand for the recent Backyard Summer Social, allowing event attendees to enjoy a petting zoo as part of the many festivities. Photo courtesy of Five Counties Kids.

From left, a member of the Peterborough Academy of Circus Arts gives a tutorial in balance to one of the guests attending the event. Photo courtesy of Five Counties Kids.

There’s an art to what caricaturist Jason Wilkins (seated at left) does, and he ably demonstrated that drawing likenesses of attendees at the Summer Social. Photo curtesy of Five Counties Kids.

This year’s edition of the Centre’s gala fundraising event was a hybrid effort, with some activities moved indoors due to the threat of rain. That change didn’t impact the excitement and enthusiasm, say organizers, as attendees were still able to enjoy music, food, entertainment, live auction, door prizes and fun activities including axe throwing, petting zoo, lacrosse shootout and old-fashioned picnic games.

“The Backyard Summer Social is aimed at putting the fun into fundraising, and we were able to do that successfully again in 2023 despite the wet weather,” adds Lyn Giles, Director of Fund Development with Five Counties. “We’re very appreciative of all the support we had this year and are already planning ahead for the next Backyard Summer Social on June 22, 2024, so mark your calendars!”

For more information, visit the website.

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