Ken Boshcoff can now say he’s an award-winning apron designer.
The Thunder Bay city councillor on Thursday teamed with CKPR’s Laura Zaina and the Chronicle Journal’s Clint Harris to decorate a red Safeway apron in the spirit of Easter Seals and Special Olympians, kicking off a joint fundraising campaign that will take place in Thunder Bay in April.
The goal of the campaign, which customers can contribute to when they shop at the city’s three Safeway locations next month, is to raise enough money to send kids to Easter Seals camps and provide athletes with intellectual disabilities an opportunity to participate in sports.
“Each year they do something a little bit different here with Easter Seals at Safeway, and with Special Olympics,” said Boshcoff, whose team finished in the bronze-medal position.
“It really shows what we’ve got going here, and that’s the community spirit. It’s been a really nice event.”
Though used to finishing atop the vote, the former two-term mayor was OK with their finish in the informal judging competition Thursday.
“Well, we got third place nailed down. It’s better than being out of the running like some of the other teams,” he said, tongue planted firmly in cheek.
Part of a nationwide series of events, Safeway officials are asking customers to donate $2 at the till at any Safeway store. In return, they’ll receive five Air Miles for helping out.
Across North America the grocery giant has used the April campaign to raise more than $110 million over the years.
Easter Seals Ontario senior development officer Rhonda Harrison said the campaign goes a long way to helping meet their goals.
The needs continue to grow, and to have Thunder Bay celebrities like Boshcoff, Mayor Keith Hobbs and Lakehead athletic director Tom Warden lend a hand to kick things off makes it that much easier to attract the public’s attention.
“It’s great. Everybody’s showing their support of two charities, so everyone is learning more about what we do and meeting some of the kids we’re helping,” Harrison said.
