Photo provided by the author
A big crowd of generous supporters enjoy a great buffet dinner, Bingo, and a very successful fund-raising auction in the dining room at Suffield by the River.
On December 1, 2017, the Foundation for Exceptional Children of Suffield (FECS) witnessed generosity in its purist sense. FECS and Suffield By The River partnered together to organize a fundraiser, “Purses and Power Tools Bingo”, in order to raise monies to initiate a voluntary identification card system for the special needs and Alzheimer’s/Dementia populations of Suffield. Community members enjoyed an amazing gourmet dinner, prizes and a live auction. Participants also played 10 games of Bingo (with Suffield Police Chief Chris Brown and Suffield by the River’s own Liz Sansom calling Bingo) for the chance of winning designer purses and power tools. The grand prizes were a Torey Birch purse and a snow blower.
FECS has been working in conjunction with the Suffield Police Department to develop Project Keep Me Safe Cards (PKMSC). These identification cards will be linked directly to the Suffield Police Department in order to better assist first responders when interacting with the special needs and dementia/Alzheimer’s populations of Suffield during emergency situations. The PKMSC can be used for identification purposes in the event that a child or adult goes missing, or can be used to identify family members with special needs or medical conditions when emergency situations arise at home. PKMSC can be tailored to the family’s preference and can include a name, date of birth, address, photograph, medical and clinical conditions, important subjective information, hospital choice and emergency contact information.
The Purses and Power Tools Bingo fundraiser attracted more than 200 guests and raised over $15,000! Due to the enormous success of the fundraiser, FECS will be able to completely fund the Project Keep Me Safe Cards at no cost to the Suffield taxpayer and FECS will also be able to provide a training course for the Connecticut State Police Academy to educate their cadets in how to best respond to the autistic community in situations of emergency through the Project Keep Me Safe program.
FECS would like to thank all of the local business and community members for their generous donations which made this fundraiser an enormous success. In particular, FECS would like to express our sincere gratitude to Celia Moffie and all of the staff at Suffield by the River. Celia Moffie graciously donated not only the fabulous location of The Rivers Restaurant, but all of the fabulous food, her administrative staff, chef, wait staff, and decorations which enabled us to hold a first class fundraiser for a cause which will protect our most vulnerable citizens of Suffield. FECS is completely humbled by the support we have received from our wonderful community of Suffield and are in awe of the generosity bestowed on our foundation by Celia Moffie and her incredibly dedicated and supportive staff.
The Foundation for Exceptional Children of Suffield is a 501(c)(3) founded in 2017 by Jill Caron and Sue Davis. The mission of FECS is to create awareness, provide information and support to Suffield residents with special needs. It is the purpose of the foundation to create a more inclusive, educated community in order to better serve ALL members of Suffield.