News
YANA is feeling the love from Ace Brewing and Dr. Brad Harris and sending it right back! They developed a special IPA ‘Love Potion” with proceeds going to YANA. Thank you for your charitableness!
We love how our community finds creative ways to support YANA! The Comox Fire Department attended a call for a resident. The resident made a donation to the Firefighters Association in thanks for their service and the firefighters decided to pass that donation on to YANA. Thank you Comox Fire Dept!
Kudos go out to Hugh McKinnon and Kelly Rusk for creatively finding a way to give to YANA. Hugh needed to purchase a dryer and Kelly had one to give. They agreed that Hugh would compensate Kelly by donating to YANA. Thanks guys!
We’re so grateful to Mike Seib for his ongoing Car Wash campaign to help YANA, continuing his support over the summer months when YANA’s community and personal donations decreased due to COVID restrictions. Thank you, Mike!
We’d like to thank Little Sparks Preschool for “sparking” a fantastic community fundraising idea: They auctioned off a beautiful hand-made playhouse and donated the proceeds to YANA. We feel a spark, a flicker AND a glow in our hearts for these wonderful folks!
YANA sure appreciates its community supporters and we can’t thank Brian McLean Chevrolet Buick GMC enough for their financial gift. Their charitableness, particularly during the tough times of COVID, is inspiring!
Thank you Betty, for your thoughtful donation to YANA. Seniors are some of YANA’s biggest supporters. Betty chose to donate her government-issued cheque to her grandchildren and YANA. We’re so honoured!
We’d like to extend our gratitude to Funding Innovation for their recent donation. This amazing charity works with foundations and not-for-profit’s Nationwide to raise funds through their Art Easel Program. Thank you to this innovative and philanthropic organization!
Did you know that you can raise money for YANA through Facebook? We’d like to thank all those amazing people who did just that. Up to April 15th, our Fantastic Facebook Fundraisers collected a whopping $1680 for YANA families!
YANA Christmas Crackers on sale in stores and online
Posted on
Originally published by the Comox Valley Record Nov. 15, 2020
The 2020 YANA Christmas Cracker Campaign is kicking off again, and like most things right now, this year’s fundraiser looks a little different. The usual cracker making gatherings were cancelled due to the pandemic situation and social distancing measures, but the efforts continued, led by volunteer campaign coordinator, Robbie Rusk. Her dream team of cracker crafters came forward to take supplies home and they pulled together to assemble the 5000 crackers throughout the COVID lockdown in the Spring.
Crackers are ready for purchase at seven retail locations, as well as in the online store just launched. YANA Executive Director Kelly Barnie shared the shift in approach to this year’s campaign, and the measures they’ve taken to ensure the fundraiser is both safe and successful.
“Like everything fundraising and life in general, this year’s cracker campaign has required us to adjust and adapt. We’ve limited our distribution locations to businesses with strong COVID protocols in place for walk-in business, as well as to places most likely to remain open if restrictions increase again. We also started an online store, where buyers can choose to purchase and pick-up at YANA’s office on Rosewall Crescent, or to have their crackers directly shipped to the location they choose. We know that many businesses and individuals are thinking about the approaching tax season and the contributions they want to make, and the online store makes it easy to add an additional donation and receive a receipt for the 2020 tax year.”
The hand-crafted crackers are $3.00 each and contain traditional trinkets and jokes. Fifty crackers contain special prizes donated by local businesses, including the Grand Prize of a gorgeous 18kt gold diamond Cavelti ring generously donated by Mark the Gold, appraised at $2835.00 by Tim Haley of Simply Timeless.
Last year YANA supported 172 families and 433 medical trips for Comox Valley families who required medical care outside of the community. Because of the generous sponsorships from Paul Ardron and Kirk Campbell of IG Wealth Management, 100% of the cracker proceeds go directly to the continued support that YANA provides for our community and families.
YANA Christmas Crackers are on sale now, and sell out quickly every year. They can be purchased at Edible Island Whole Foods Market, Seeds Food Market, Tin Town Cafe, John’s Your Independent Grocer, Comox Community Centre, Quality Foods in Comox and Courtenay and through YANA’s Online Store. Bulk orders as well as cash donations can also be done at the YANA office at 102, 2456 Rosewall Cres on Tuesdays and Thursdays 10:00am to 2:00pm.
For more information, and to purchase YANA Christmas Crackers online, visit https://www.yanacomoxvalley.com/yana-event/christmas-crackers/