A pie to the face. A matzah-eating contest. No-hands makeup challenge. This is what a 24-hour Charidy campaign looks like at the J Denver.
On May 15 at 2:00 pm, we kick-started a 24-hour campaign to raise $40,000 for Camp Shai scholarships. Were we successful? HECK. YES. In five hours, we reached our goal of $40,000 and by 2:00 pm on May 16, we had officially raised $49,437 towards scholarships. Is this anything short of a miracle? Rhetorical question, obviously.
188 donors, including several of our own staff members, contributed to this cause in order to help children who would otherwise be unable to attend Camp Shai. Here at the J, we understand that camp is a necessity for most families during the summer, and for that reason, we wanted to make sure it’s affordable for everyone.
How exactly did we raise so much so quickly? Well, first off, our Camp Shai and Development teams here at the J are simply out-of-this-world (that goes without saying). However, we were lucky to have three outside sponsors who agreed to match each donation, meaning a $20 donation ended up being $80––pretty cool, huh?
In order to make this event even more fun and action-packed, we decided to have the J Staff take part in ridiculous, silly challenges each time we hit a donation milestone. For example, when we reached $5k, our staff took part in a three-legged race across the Main Lobby, when we hit $20k, our Director of Marketing and our Graphic Designer completed the No-Hands Makeup Challenge, and when we hit $35k, our Assistant Director of Camp Shai belly-flopped into the pool fully clothed. Of course, we recorded each and every challenge for your viewing pleasure on our JCC Denver Facebook page.
Once we hit our goal of $40k (and popped bottles––of Martinelli’s Sparkling Apple Cider), the remaining donations were not matched, meaning the extra $9,437 was the pristine cherry on top of our already delicious sundae. Our J Denver community proved that when we all put our heads together and stand behind something we believe in, anything is possible.
We can’t thank our community enough for the kindness and generosity they shared with our Shai campers and families. The children throughout our center mean the world to us, and it’s been absolutely incredible to see our caring patrons support them.
Thank you for making our campers’ dreams come true. We couldn’t have done it without you.
