CENTRE WELLINGTON – Over the holidays, On the Spot Productions ran its annual pantomime at the Fergus Grand Theatre.
The group sold 1,049 tickets to the The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and raised $10,000, which was split evenly between Hopewell Children’s Homes and the Groves Hospital Foundation.
This is On the Spot’s eighth holiday panto, and every year it donates all net proceeds to charity.
The tradition was started by On the Spot founders Paul and Judy Faires.
On the Spot spokesperson Leigha Bailey attributes this year’s $10,000 donation to overwhelming support in the community.
“We had a bit of a snow/ice storm on the final show and about half our audience couldn’t make it,” said Bailey.
“But because they know we’ve donated to charity for so many years, nobody called and cancelled their tickets.”
Bailey said Groves hospital was selected because it’s “near and dear to everyone’s hearts.
“And they asked that $151 be donated for each person in the community … and so we counted up the number of people on the cast and multiplied that by $151 and it was just about $5,000.”
The remainder was given to Hopewell Children’s Homes “because we recognize that there is a need.”
Since the beginning, On the Spot Productions has donated to Hopewell, an organization that offers a number of programs to help developmentally-challenged children.
On the Spot’s donation this year will help Hopewell cover basic costs and renovations at its Ariss location, where the goal is to create a “more accessible” day space for residents and their families, says executive director Kim Rodrigues.
Hopewell will receive its donation at a ceremony on Jan. 22 in Ariss.
Hopewell encourages community visitors.
“We are very much open doors, we love to have volunteers,” says Rodrigues.
The funds donated to Groves will be used to purchase equipment for the new hospital in Aboyne.
“We appreciate the support we’ve received from On the Spot Productions for Groves Hospital Foundation,” says executive director Lori Arsenault.
“We know that a lot of work and effort has gone into raising these funds and that the production was a huge success, so we really appreciate that they decided to give some of the proceeds to Groves.”
Groves received its donation at a ceremony on Jan. 18.
