The Vogue Theatre has made a sizeable donation to the Fernie Women’s Resource Centre based on last week’s Santa Pups ticket sales.
The Vogue held two matinee showings of Santa Paws 2: The Santa Pups on November 24 and 25. Tickets were sold for $6.50, with a portion of the proceeds promised to the Women’s Resource Centre.
The Disney movie was filmed in Fernie last fall and features several local locations, as well as a few locals appearing as extras. Anticipation to see the town on the big screen was high and the screenings were a success, with Fernie residents filling 400 seats over the weekend. Theatre owners Dennis and Roxana Djonlich were able to donate $1,100 from the ticket sales to the centre.
“That’s a substantial donation for us,” remarked Lauren Fox, outreach worker with the Fernie Women’s Resource Centre. “Sometimes I think people think they need to make a huge donation to make a difference, but something like this is so important for us.”
At this point, Fox doesn’t know what the money will go towards, but she said donations are generally used for extras the centre doesn’t receive funding for.
“In the past if there’s been different activities or different little things that we can do or see a need in the community for. When we’re not able to afford those directly through funding from the provincial and federal governments, then we use donations.”
Fox added, “It’s never used for anything like wages, it’s always for things above and beyond what we’re normally able to do.”
There’s lots of different ways we can get creative, and we always use money towards things that are going to benefit the community and the clients we’re serving in ways we couldn’t otherwise.”
Some of the possibilities include snacks, special activities, and grocery vouchers.