Fulford takes fundraising to heart
136 students at Knowlton Academy, Mansonville Elementary School, and Heroes Memorial Elementary School in Cowansville were certified in CPR recently thanks to a quirky annual fundraiser organized by Crystal Badger of Fulford.
“The kids really engaged,” Badger said, explaining that she was inspired to fund the courses after the town of Lac Brome offered a free defibrillator course to the citizens of Fulford taught by paramedic and Heart and Stroke Foundation instructor Daniel Garvin. “I enjoyed the course a lot, his way of teaching was interesting, fun and creative.”
Badger invited Garvin back and then set about raising the money needed to pay for the courses using the fundraising model she already had in place.
Her fundraiser is a rubber duck race in the Yamaska River held in conjunction with the annual Fulford strawberry social in June. For the last three years Badger has been selling tickets for $10 each. The ticket corresponds to a duck in the race, the first three ducks over the line win a prize. In the case of the CPR lessons, the price worked out such that one duck paid for one student.
So far the fundraiser has had a different cause every year, starting with the Monteregie SPCA, then for local first responders, and then for the CPR courses. Although the Frontier Animal Society in Stanstead has already been selected as the 2017 beneficiary, Badger said that she would like to come back to the cause of teaching children CPR in the future.
“I’d like to see all the students in our area get this training,” the organizer said, explaining that she feels that given CPR’S potential to save lives, it is wrong
that the training is not automatically a part of the school curriculum.
Badger said that the actual training sessions took months to coordinate between communications with schools and outreach to other institutions. Although she said that she reached out to a wide range of English and French schools in the area, only the three who ended up doing the trainings actually got back to her. The CPR course was given to students in grades five, six, and secondary one.
Asked what inspired her to start the duck race in the first place, Badger said the idea was born out of a desire to give back and also to raise the profile of her little community.
“We do fundraising outside, but it all links back to Fulford,” the organizer said.
This year's Duck race will take place on June 17, 2017 from 12pm to 3 pm at 62 Davis Rd, Fulford, in Lac Brome. Anyone interested in buying a duck or just making a donation can call crystal Badger at 450-525-7223 or show up on race day prior to 2:30pm.