Ronald McDonald House Charities of Arkansas
Thanks to these ladies from the Junior Auxiliary of Cabot for fillin the House with the sweet smell of fresh warm cookies. Our families will love them! #formhc #keepingfamiliesclose #cookie club
Cereal Drive
Each year we have the honor of participating with THV11 to do a food drive to stock the shelves at local food pantries. We participate as a chapter by providing $500 toward cereal. Each member is also encouraged to donate as well as members of the public. As we work together, we are able to provide large amounts of cereal to this cause. In 2017, we donated 1066 boxes as a whole.
Warm a Child's Heart
This project is all about providing socks and underwear to the schools here in Cabot. At times, children come to school without these items, or are in need of replacement. We are happy to provide these annually and as needed throughout the year. This project was accomplished by two local drives, and collection boxes at local churches. In 2017, we were able to provide 333 items to the schools, and have provided more throughout the years as needed.
Ice Cream Social
The purpose of this project is to connect with the local community and raise awareness about what we do as a chapter. The Cabot Chamber of Commerce hosts the event and we set up a booth which passed out homemade ice cream. In 2017, we won "Best Overall" stawberry ice cream. The Ice Cream Social continues to be a great networking event.
Backpacks
The Cabot Schools keep backpacks on hand so they can give them to students as needed. Many children come to school without one, so we aid in getting the schools stocked with these extra backpacks. We accomplished this by working a fundraiser at a local restaurant and having a donation drive. We were able to provide 150 backpacks to the schools in 2016.
Back to School Fair
We partner with the Cabot United Methodist Church to help with their Back to School Fair. At the fair, there are several stations set up and we have the privilege of hosting the hygiene station. At this station we provide age appropriate hygiene products and bags to each child. This is to help children be prepared for back to school. Other rooms at the event provide food, clothing, haircuts, etc. It is an honor to be involved with this great project.
Cherry Park Clean-Up
This project is about giving back to the community. We sponsor a local park where were do an annual clean up. We partner with our high school club, The Crown Club, to accomplish this. We clean the area and provide other services as needed. In 2017, we removed over 80 bags of debris and trash.
Dental Screenings
Dental hygiene is extremely important to focus on at a young age. We promote this by working with pre-k and 2nd grade students at every Cabot elementary school to provide awareness and education. We partner with local dentists to arrange the screening. Dentists look at the children's teeth and fill out a form that goes home to parents. This lets parents know if the child needs dental attention at the time. We had several dentists report an improvement in the dental health of the children seen in 2016-2017. We also hand out toothbrushes, toothpaste, and floss to each child. We saw about 1,200 children in 2016-2017.
Charity Ball
This is one of our main fundraisers that helps us gain access to funds so we can provide for the children of Cabot. This event is full of entertainment for guests including food, drinks, live music, live auction, and other activities. A large portion of the proceeds from this event goes toward buying Christmas gifts for local children. In 2016 we raised $22,500.
The next Charity Ball will be October 20, 2018 at Bella Terra Estates.
Christmas Blessing
We provide Christmas gifts to children who are referred to us by the schools. Through our fundraising, local donations, and toy drives, we were able to purchase gifts for 211 children. Each kid received a jacket, a pair of shoes, 2 pair of pants, 2 shirts, toys and/or hygiene bags. This is a very rewarding project and has grown immensely over the years.
Community Based Toy Drive
This type of toy drive allows us to plug in to the community and get others involved in local giving. We contacted several businesses who then agreed to be drop locations for toys. These toys went toward the Christmas Blessing and allowed us to give to even more children.
Reading First
This literacy project is to encourage the love of reading and to provide children with a book of their own. Members of our chapter go to each elementary and read to all second grade students. After visiting and reading, the members hand out a book to each kid to take home with them. The books are focused on promoting positive self-esteem and are picked by a local elementary principal.
Strawberry Festival
This event is one of our main fundraising projects. This event is focused on family fun and helps us promote local strawberry growers. At this festival we have live entertainment, a carnival, kid zone, food trucks, vendors, 5k race, pageant, and of course strawberries! In 2017, we are proud to announce a nationally recognized entertainment headliner: Barrett Baber. In 2016, we raised over $25,000 to go toward our welfare projects.
The next Strawberry Festival will be April 20 & 21, 2018.
16th Annual Cabot Straberry Festival Vendor Application
16th Annual Cabot Straberry Festival Food Truck Vendor Application
#itsagirlthing
The purpose of this event is to promote positive self-esteem with middle school girls. We go into each of the middle schools and work with the girls on healthy body image, positive relationships, and safety. We have local folks from Cabot join us in this project: guest speakers, local law enforcement, and local fitness instructors. It's a great afternoon of fun and provides a positive way to work directly with the girls.