We are continuously fundraising in Canada to keep the center supported. We held a ‘Pay the Rent’ Home shopping party at my home in October that was a big success. In Octber of 2008 we held 'Cowing around for Africa' event which was wacky AND successful. We will probably do it again next year.

The cow idea came from my cousin Derek in Dublin. He had used a similar idea to fundraise for his musical theatre group. The concept is what I call Cow Patty Roulette…can you guess?? Well, we sold tickets for ‘squares’ in a downtown park across from City Hall in Kingston. Each square was $20. We only planned to sel 450 tickets (so great odds) and in the end didn’t sell all of them. Each ticket was given a number for a square on the grass (2 by 2 feet). We then had a local farmer bring in his cow and let he graze in the enclosed areas until..PLOP!!! The square with the plop won a caribbean cruise for two donated by Dialysis at Sea Crusies (the company that I have done dialysis crusies with, and who are big supporters of our project). It was a family event with music and face painting. The weather cooperated too, which was wonderful because it was October 21st and could have been horrible.

I have posted pictures of the beautiful cow who participated. Mr. Lloyd Orser kindly agreed to bring her down and wait while we watched. This was exceptionally kind of him because dairy farmers work non-staop from what I gather. It took her just over 2 hours to eat enough grass to get the job done.

The fundraiser raised $5500 for the Women’s center project.

We held a successful Gala Fundraiser in Kingston Ontario on New Year's Eve 2009 that is destined to become an annual event.

Our gala was themed 'Midnight on Kilimanjaro' . It was a 4 course meal at an recently restored church turned event venue. It was a magical night with just over 100 in attendance. The ticket proceeds and silent auction raised almost $10,000 for the center. We are scheduled to hold a similar event for New Year's Eve 2009 at the same venue.