Successful March Events Raise Funds for Camperships

We’re very grateful to all the supporters who joined us in early March for two successful fundraising events: Fowling at the Warehouse and Hockey Night in Brighton. Our event summaries below share all the details.

March 3: Fowling at the Warehouse

We’re so thankful to the more than 115 people who made this month’s Fowling at the Warehouse such a big success, netting enough to fund three camperships!

The wonderful turnout, combined with the underwriting of the event provided by our hosts, NSR Board Member Stephanie Amaimo and her husband Justin, helped raise enough to send three kids who are facing life-changing health challenges to camp this summer!

A highlight of the event was a testimonial by Stephanie’s sister, Laura Jackson, who shared her personal experience of going from the hospital–where doctors and nurses cautioned her that her paralysis would preclude her from many of her favorite activities–to camp, where she learned that, in spite of her limitations, she could enjoy camp as much as any other kid. She even rode horseback for the first time in her life! Stephanie and Laura’s parents, Melody and Daryl Jackson, were also on hand to help pull off this first event of its kind for North Star Reach.

Visit our Facebook page to see the event photo album.

March 11: Hockey Night in Brighton

North Star Reach is honored to have been named a beneficiary of Hockey Night in Brighton, a fundraiser that celebrated its eighth year this March. The event pits The Well Church All-Stars–all sporting the number nine in honor of Red Wings legend Gordie Howe–against the Detroit Red Wings Alumni Association team in a match at Brighton’s Kensington Valley Ice House that has been likened to contests between the Washington Generals and the Harlem Globetrotters.

North Star Reach was represented for the ceremonial puck drop that started the game by 9-year-old Aidan Troxtel and his parents, Erik and Stacey. Aidan, who received a kidney transplant just before his second birthday in 2010, was able to go to camp on his own for the first time when he turned 7 in 2015. He also attended Transplant Family Camp last October with his parents and is looking forward to going back to camp this summer.

Hockey Night fans enjoyed a spirited, if lopsided match, plus a halftime “puck chuck,” “bubble soccer,” and a Pee Wee shootout. After the game, VIP ticketholders assembled at Cornerstone Evangelical Church’s Celebration Center to bid on silent and live auction items. Aidan played a surprise role in the live auction when, with mom Stacey at his side, he encouraged the bidders higher with a big “thumbs-up.”

A big THANK YOU goes out to everyone who made this event a success, including the Troxtels; camp supporters Barb Binkley of Cooper & Binkley Jewelers and Steven Bearden (for identifying NSR as a beneficiary); ; event organizers Scott and Holly DesAutel; and NSR Board Members in attendance Steven Berger and Ebon Wilkins.