Surpassing all expectations, the 10 Men In A Tent fundraiser brought in more than $302,000 in donations and thousands of pounds of food for
Project SHARE. The five-day event that started last Monday wrapped up late Friday afternoon when the 10 were picked up in a limousine and brought to their homes to shower and freshen up. Last night, a buffet in honour of the event was held at the Thundering Waters Golf Club. Donations can still be made to the campaign up until Wednesday. Through the week, the 10 -Bill Burke, Jim Diodati, Dino Fazio, Bob Gale, Kevin Grealy, Dave Martineau, Tim Parker, Brian Pellow, Rob White and Dr. George Zimakas – lived, slept and ate in the tent, surviving only on the same food Project SHARE clients would live on. Each day outside the tent at Montrose and Thorold Stone Rds., different chefs prepared gourmet barbecue meals for the public who came to donate money or food. “Thank you, that’s all I can say to everyone and especially all the volunteers who have been involved,” said Gale, the organizer, Friday afternoon while rushing around to thank individuals and representatives from various organizations. “I’m just blown away,” said Elaine Harvey, executive director of Project SHARE. “I thought it was going to be a fantastic event, but never in my wildest dreams did I think it was going to be of this magnitude.” In her 19 years at the agency, said she has never seen the community draw together as they have.
She noted it really fits in with their motto: Our Community at Work.