P.E.I. Citizen Advocacy hosts prize bingo May 8

An organization that matches adults who have intellectual disabilities with volunteer advocates is holding an annual bingo fundraiser.

P.E.I. Citizen Advocacy holds its 17th annual prize bingo on Tuesday, May 8 at 7 p.m. at Bingo Country, 33 Riverside Dr. in Charlottetown. Admission is $20 and includes all bingo cards.

More than $3,000 worth of prizes have been donated by local businesses this year, including the Charlottetown Farmers Market, Cows Creamery, Hunter’s Ale House and the Confederation Centre of the Arts.

P.E.I. Citizen Advocacy is a small, community-based notfor-profit organization with an Island presence going back to 1986. These matches become long-term friendships, connecting adults with intellectual disabilities to a wider world of community inclusion and support. The organization relies on funds raised to keep running the program.

Danielle DesRoches met her volunteer advocate, Jen Croken, through the program.

“I needed a friend,” said DesRoches.

For her part, Croken doesn’t think the organization could have made a better match.

“Danielle and I kind of clicked,” she said. “We’re very, very much alike. We’re both crafty. We both love music. We love to sing very loudly and very terribly in the car.”

P.E.I. Citizen Advocacy President Melissa Good said the bingo fundraiser is a great way for the community to support the organization and for participants to enjoy themselves, too.

“Everyone is welcome at P.E.I Citizen Advocacy prize bingo, and we have a lot of unique and wonderful donated prizes on offer,” said Good. “This may be the 17th year that Citizen Advocacy has run this fundraiser, but it feels like we have more fun every year.”