AKEN BASAAR #23 – Saturday April 27, 2013, St Andrew`s Church
The AKEN committee came into being on February 7, 1990 and 23 years later, is still going strong! With 25 major fund-raising events under its belt, the AKEN women are gearing up for AKEN BASAAR, CAFÉ & BAKE SALE #23, which is taking place on Saturday, April 27th at the usual location - St. Andrew`s Lutheran Church at the corner of Jarvis and Carlton Streets.
During its 23 year history, the AKEN committee has raised approximately $450,000 through its fundraising efforts and has supported innumerable projects, schools and undertakings in our homeland as well as in our Estonian community here in Canada. During the past two years, substantial monetary donations made to AKEN by a very generous member of the Estonian community in Toronto were directed to programs for children and youth in Estonia whereas the proceeds from the last two down-sized rummage sales have been directed largely to programs for children and youth in our local community here at home.
The AKEN committee continues to be a proponent of the environmentally friendly message “recycle, reuse, resell” and with the help of its many enthusiastic volunteers, the committee has developed considerable expertise converting re-sellable used items donated by the community into hard cash which is then channelled right back into the community. Among the recipients of support during the last two-year period, are programs vital to the community such as the Estonian Kindergarten Program, the Estonian Supplementary Schools, Jõekääru Children’s Camp, JK Kalev Volleyball Camp, the Kungla Folkdancers and Kotkajärve Metsaülikool.
So if you, dear reader, are anxious to support these programs but cash-flow is a problem, the solution is to donate your unneeded, reusable in-good-condition items to the basaar and you will have the satisfaction of knowing that the monies earned from the sale of your donations will flow directly into the coffers of the programs you wish to support.
The women of the AKEN committee wish to express their gratitude to every donator, every baker and every volunteer who has contributed to the success of what one satisfied customer described as “the best darn rummage sale in town”. Stay tuned for further details regarding what to donate to AKEN BASAAR #23!
Ellen Leivat,
In 2012 AKEN dontated $3,000 to Jõekääru's diamond jubilee fund-raising drive - Jõekääru, a hallowed institution in our community, where Imbi, Emma, Annike (from Connecticut) and Anna Marie (from Ohio) were immersed in all things Estonian and, like generations before them, forged frinedships to last a life-time.
