Archer Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 The Kolak Christmas Light Show every year collects donations for a local person or family. This year was no exception and I am curious about several things, 1. How many light shows represted in these forums collect? (Wouldn't it be interesting to see how much we raised collectively?) 2. What are some of the causes that we have collected for over the years. 3. If you collect, was it an up year when compared to years past? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerry72 Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 For the pasty 3 years, we have used out Halloween light show to raise food for our local food bank and used the Christmas show to raise money for a local Special Olympics. However after careful consideration we will be changing it up next year. This year when we went to turn in what food we raised, they said they changed their policy and in order to take donations from a fundraiser, they had to "set it up" in advanced, however they failed to contact us. We have had issues with getting the food bank involved and we quit frankly have gotten tired of dealing with them. Same goes for our local special Olympics, some may say its a bit selfish, but if i am going to spend hundreds upon hundres of dollars out of my own pocket to raise money for a good, cause, i should, at the very least, expect the charity to be proactive in the fundraising, however they have not once even stopped by to see the show, they do nothing to help get the word out. So this next year, for Halloween, we plan to raise money for a local charity that helps women with breast cancer. This hits home for us as my wife was recently diagnosed with Breast Cancer. We have no decided yet on who we will help for our Christmas show. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Simmons Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 (edited) We only do Christmas. We've shamelessly accepted (and actively solicited) donations since our first year, and will continue to do so. Our cause has always been, and will continue to be, our local food shelf. Unlike Jerry's experience, ours appreciates very much what we do. I like the fact that 100% of the money collected stays in the community, not just the few pennies on the dollar that remain after a lot of charities skim off expenses for themselves. Some years donations are up, some years they're down. This was a down year, slightly. Sorry, but for security and safety reasons, I don't ever advertise or publicize the amounts we've collected, and I've asked the food shelf not to either. Edited January 2, 2017 by George Simmons 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Simmons Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 (edited) Sorry - duplicate post. Edited January 2, 2017 by George Simmons Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingfish Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 I do half and half local food bank local childrens hospital Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ItsMeBobO Posted January 3, 2017 Share Posted January 3, 2017 We had Kevin from Demented Elf do a voice over for our charity which they scripted and approved. We have a paypal button on our website which goes directly to the charity so we don't know what is collected electronically. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Archer Posted January 3, 2017 Author Share Posted January 3, 2017 Jerry I hope your wife has nothing but good news from here on out. She has prayers from me. We pick somebody local either from the news or from church. This has been a very good year for the Kolak Christmas Light Show. My show is now officially finished for the season and yet we had a check placed in our donation box tonight for $450.00. I run my show around our cause. Meaning, I have 8 songs and between each song we tell something about the person or family we are helping. To me it turns a bunch of lights synced to music into a cause. It puts a face and story out there that people can relate to. I keep a log of contributions made each day and post weekly totals on my website. The community is very into our lights every year and ask all the time throughout the year who are we going to help next. The 2016 story on my website is not complete but you can hear/see how we do it by viewing 2015. kevinkolak.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeERWNC Posted January 3, 2017 Share Posted January 3, 2017 We did Toys For Tots this year. It is sad that so many kids have crappy parents! But if the Toys For Tots effort can touch the life of just one child and they grow up to be NOT like their parents, then it is worth it. In our very small community, we collected 1900.00. I hand it over tomorrow. We find that the folks who take candy canes when we walk by feel obligated to donate dollar bills. However, in the donation box we usually only find fives and tens. Sometimes a random twenty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Archer Posted January 3, 2017 Author Share Posted January 3, 2017 We have no foot traffic at all. It's an 11 mile round trip for milk. 2 traffic lights in the entire County with the first being 18 miles away. There are no stores in the village closest to us. I say all of this only to point out that you have to make an effort to watch our lights. This year we hit $8,400.00 unless we get more in the mail during the week. kevinkolak.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cgiambruno Posted January 3, 2017 Share Posted January 3, 2017 I have been doing my show for about 9 years, and do a food drive for the local food bank. I have a small show, but this year I have collected over 800 pounds of food. Prior to that, the most I had collected was 474 pounds. It also helps when a local news station pays you a visit during a live broadcast. -Chris 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Archer Posted January 3, 2017 Author Share Posted January 3, 2017 That's cool.....live TV Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerry72 Posted January 4, 2017 Share Posted January 4, 2017 On 1/2/2017 at 3:37 PM, George Simmons said: We only do Christmas. We've shamelessly accepted (and actively solicited) donations since our first year, and will continue to do so. Our cause has always been, and will continue to be, our local food shelf. Unlike Jerry's experience, ours appreciates very much what we do. I like the fact that 100% of the money collected stays in the community, not just the few pennies on the dollar that remain after a lot of charities skim off expenses for themselves. Some years donations are up, some years they're down. This was a down year, slightly. Sorry, but for security and safety reasons, I don't ever advertise or publicize the amounts we've collected, and I've asked the food shelf not to either. We had good appreciation in the past, however with the food bank now under new management so to speak, it has gone way down hill. But yer right, this year was a very down year for us, and i have to accept responsibility for the most part. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerry72 Posted January 4, 2017 Share Posted January 4, 2017 On 1/2/2017 at 5:00 PM, Archer said: Jerry I hope your wife has nothing but good news from here on out. She has prayers from me. We pick somebody local either from the news or from church. This has been a very good year for the Kolak Christmas Light Show. My show is now officially finished for the season and yet we had a check placed in our donation box tonight for $450.00. I run my show around our cause. Meaning, I have 8 songs and between each song we tell something about the person or family we are helping. To me it turns a bunch of lights synced to music into a cause. It puts a face and story out there that people can relate to. I keep a log of contributions made each day and post weekly totals on my website. The community is very into our lights every year and ask all the time throughout the year who are we going to help next. The 2016 story on my website is not complete but you can hear/see how we do it by viewing 2015. kevinkolak.com Thank you, so far so good, doctor seem very optimistic about her survival. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Simmons Posted January 4, 2017 Share Posted January 4, 2017 5 minutes ago, jerry72 said: We had good appreciation in the past, however with the food bank now under new management so to speak, it has gone way down hill. But yer right, this year was a very down year for us, and i have to accept responsibility for the most part. I also have to accept responsibility for the most part of our donations being down, but for different and more trivial reasons. I combined, in no particular order or dosage: critter damage, a touch of human stupid, a couple of technical issues, and an unusual bevy of self-inflicted mishaps (including - for whatever insane reason - the act of tearing a big toenail off) into one giant excuse, the likes of which I've never needed before. All told, I didn't manage to get the lights started for real until the Tuesday AFTER Thanksgiving instead of on Thanksgiving. That's been turning into a big weekend and this year it just didn't happen. Donations are off by about that same difference. But on the brighter side, for all us greedy Thanksgiving to New Year's SOBs who want to collect every dollar we can to help others, the 2017 calendar allows us almost the longest season possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Archer Posted January 4, 2017 Author Share Posted January 4, 2017 Geaoge.....I'll need an extra long season next year if I am to get close to or match this year. My last light show was Sunday Jan 1st and the next day the mailman left us several checks including a $300 single donation and followed that with another check of $425 on the 3rd. Today he left checks for $300 and $50. It's been a fantastic year for donations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dibblejr Posted January 4, 2017 Share Posted January 4, 2017 I received 1 box of candy canes! Left in my mailbox. I commend all of you who take donations for charities! "Hats Off" to all of you. JR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerry72 Posted January 5, 2017 Share Posted January 5, 2017 19 hours ago, George Simmons said: I also have to accept responsibility for the most part of our donations being down, but for different and more trivial reasons. I combined, in no particular order or dosage: critter damage, a touch of human stupid, a couple of technical issues, and an unusual bevy of self-inflicted mishaps (including - for whatever insane reason - the act of tearing a big toenail off) into one giant excuse, the likes of which I've never needed before. All told, I didn't manage to get the lights started for real until the Tuesday AFTER Thanksgiving instead of on Thanksgiving. That's been turning into a big weekend and this year it just didn't happen. Donations are off by about that same difference. But on the brighter side, for all us greedy Thanksgiving to New Year's SOBs who want to collect every dollar we can to help others, the 2017 calendar allows us almost the longest season possible. For me, i knew my surgery was coming, i knew i was gonna be with out my right arm for several months, i should have started way early in the year, but i put it off. To much new stuff and not enough time to work it all out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dibblejr Posted January 5, 2017 Share Posted January 5, 2017 2 hours ago, jerry72 said: For me, i knew my surgery was coming, i knew i was gonna be with out my right arm for several months, i should have started way early in the year, but i put it off. To much new stuff and not enough time to work it all out. Sounds like me. I had surgery on my right Arm 29 Sept. They told me 6 weeks to recovery. Now they are saying I may never recover. And they still had the balls to think I was going to let them carve on my left arm! Not gonna happen, signed my AMA already. I wish you a full recovery. JR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerry72 Posted January 5, 2017 Share Posted January 5, 2017 1 hour ago, dibblejr said: Sounds like me. I had surgery on my right Arm 29 Sept. They told me 6 weeks to recovery. Now they are saying I may never recover. And they still had the balls to think I was going to let them carve on my left arm! Not gonna happen, signed my AMA already. I wish you a full recovery. JR Mine was Aug.25th, i was originally told 6 months, but because of the damage, i am looking at a full 9 months. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B.Y.R.G. Posted January 5, 2017 Share Posted January 5, 2017 (edited) We don't accept donations for our light show nor has anyone ever given money at any time. Last year we did have somebody donate/throw an egg at a brick column on the house but nothing like that this year. Like the concept but am too lazy. Don't want to have to deal with a secured lock box or something like that and the possible shenanigans that could come with money being in there. KUDOS to those that do accept donations and take the time to give back to the community! Edited January 5, 2017 by B.Y.R.G. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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