On Saturday June 1, over 100 youth entrepreneurs filled the Beaches Recreation Centre with their creativity and enthusiasm while selling a variety of items. Vendors sold baked goods, hand-crafted soap, accessories including hats, keychains and bracelets, just to name a few (scroll to the end of this post for lots of vender photos and checkout the Beach Metro article).
There were also some services available: face-painting and nail decor, and complimentary massages by Wellbe. Let's not forget the fine police officers from Division 55 and 51, who let kids explore their cruiser and take photos with them. We also had special guests Melodie and John, representatives of the Red Door Family Shelter.
Some of our favourite vendors were there again this year, making our event even better with their offerings - from cotton candy to snow cones.
This year our event went to new heights thanks to David Brown and his team at Fearless Meat, who provided guests with a delicious BBQ - serving burgers, hotdogs, veggie burgers and more. Part of their proceeds was donated to Kid2Kid. Our Diamond sponsor, the Meta Realty team, did such a seamless job leading the front of house for the bustling BBQ, while Beyond Melodies played live music.
Another popular hit (other then the photo station by photographer Jasmine Wang!), was the silent auction. We had over 100 items up for grabs. Some of the businesses that contributed include Beach Community Soccer League, HEAL, Revival BJJ, Bailey Nelson, Cobs Bread, and Mastermind Toys.
We were thrilled when we found our that we had raised $17,000 this year, surpassing our anticipated goal of $12,000. This was made possible not only by our vendors (who donated 50 per cent of their proceeds), the silent auction, but also thanks to the generosity of our monetary sponsors prior to our event, including Norseman Construction, BMO, Dashwood & Dashwood, Beach Dentistry, Paul & Cari Realty, Connect Education and many more.
Last and definitely not least, our event would not have been the success it was without the endless efforts of our designer, April, from Detail Staging and our incredible publicist, Michelle Easton from Easton Creative Communications - she go us on Breakfast Television and even an interview with Ben Mulroney! Thank you both so much.
We are truly grateful for the support of our volunteers and community. We look forward to next years Kids' Marketplace edition on May 31, 2025.
With love and gratitude, Shah and Caroline.
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