Pot Luck Ceramics has chosen four finalists—well, five—in its bid to select a recipient for a $10,000 donation.
Last May, the Port Alberni Fundraising Co-op Society—which operates Pot Luck Ceramics—asked people in the Alberni Valley what quality of life means to them, and how they would use $10,000 to improve quality of life. From that campaign, five finalists were decided upon, with two combined as a joint finalist.
READ MORE: Pot Luck Ceramics launches new way of giving
The four finalists are: the ADSS Breakfast Club and Neighbour Link Read and Feed programs, sharing one finalist spot; Bread of Life; AV Hospice Society and Alberni Drug and Alcohol Prevention Services (ADAPS). If the breakfast programs win, they will each receive $5,000.
The finalists were selected through a “customers’ choice” promotion at Pot Luck Ceramics, which is the co-op society’s retail store that raises funds for them to give away.
Although the society’s membership will ultimately select the organization that will receive the $10,000 grant, the board has come up with a novel way for customers to give them some direction on who most deserves the donation, says spokesperson Helma Swinkels. Each organization has been assigned a colour at Pot Luck Ceramics: customers who visit the store can put a corresponding coloured stick into a birdhouse.
There is also a special birdhouse for store volunteers to make their anonymous vote.
In November all the birdhouses will be emptied and the sticks counted, Swinkels said. “Legally, only the members of the Port Alberni Fundraising Co-op can vote. This is an indicator for us.”
Until then, “we want our customers to read about the programs.”
The winner will be announced at a special customer and volunteer appreciation event at Pot Luck Ceramics cottage, 4473 Gertrude St., the afternoon of Saturday, Nov. 24.
In the coming weeks leading up to the Nov. 24 final reveal, the Alberni Valley News will highlight the five finalists.