Fort St. John and Dawson Creek raises $33,700 on McHappy Day

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. – Approximately $33,700 was raised through McHappy Day this week for Ronald McDonald House B.C. and the Child Development Centres in Dawson Creek and Fort St. John. 

On May 8th, around $20,500 was raised in Fort St. John, to be split between the Fort St. John Child Development Centre and Ronald McDonald House. 

The Fort St. John Child Development Centre will receive approximately $10,000 of the funds raised.

Executive director Tana Millner says the funds raised in Fort St. John will go directly towards the centre’s campaign to expand some of its services in the next few years. 

“It’s super great to go down to McDonald’s and work with the staff and see all the people that come in and support our organization. It is really amazing,” said Millner about McHappy Day. 

Last year, Fort St. John residents helped to raise approximately $9,700 on McHappy Day, and Dawson Creek residents raised around $8,000 for Ronald McDonald House and the South Peace Child Development Centre. 

This year in Dawson Creek, around $13,000 was raised for the South Peace Child Development Centre and Ronald McDonald House.

Executive director Kim Hughes was delighted with the results and the community’s continued support of the centre. 

“It’s just a really wonderful partnership with McDonald’s. There are lots of other organizations and businesses that attend to support the day,” said Hughes.

The centre intends to use around $6,600 it’s receiving to upgrade its outdoor playground, a project it has been working on for several years.

“We hope this year to conclude [that project], and this amount will be towards that expense,” Hughes said. 

The centre will begin the final phase of landscaping the playground and surrounding areas over the summer and intends to complete the project by the end of the year.