Red Roof Retreat’s second call rally was not only a financial success, but a ton of fun for all involved.
The second annual event held Saturday had a few changes from last year’s inaugural fundraiser, but what didn’t change was how much everyone seemed to enjoy it, and how competitive the participants in the scavenger hunt and race against the clock can be.
Jon Taylor, Red Roof board member and organizer of the rally, stressed that this was not “an Olympic competition,” and was meant to be fun for all, but most competitors went all out in their effort to win bragging rights and a trophy.
Taylor said from the start he didn’t expect any team to complete it within the two-hour limit and respond to all 25 clues, but a number came close. The first-place team, WonderMENt, with Betty and Jamie Knight and Frances and John Boot, made it with two minutes to spare, and solved most, although not all of the clues, winning by a significant number of points.
There were about 25 cars taking part this year, with sponsors providing food, raffle prizes, and music provided by local John Claus, for volunteers and participants after all the cars were in.
And at $500 per car, or $125 per person with a maximum of four people in the car — each had at least three — the raffle, and sponsorships, the total raised met Red Roof founder and executive director Steffanie Bjorgan’s goal of $35,000.
The race began and finished at the Concession 6 Ranch property, with clues that included all five Niagara-on-the-Lake communities. Participants had to text photos or videos as they solved each of the clues, which Taylor had come up with, and although most were literal — shake a hand of a first responder — others required a little extra thought, such as take a photo with a vessel that shoots rapids (think Queenston). His goal, he said, was to make participants “have to think about it a little bit.”
Red Roof Retreat, which offers programs and respite care to youth and young adults with special needs from across Niagara, was fundraising for those programs. But the fundraising is ongoing, explained Bjorgan at Saturday’s event, both to help with program costs, and because she and the Red Roof board hope to be building a new facility from the ground up on the Concession 6 property by this time next year.
It’s early days yet though, she stresses. “It’s my dream, my vision for the future,” she told The Local.
She and her board are looking at levelling the building on the property and building a newer, bigger and better version of The Ranch, where they could expand Red Roof activities, programs and respite care in a space that will be completely accessible, which the current structure is not.
The building on the Concession 6 property now “is really just a little house,” said Bjorgan. Her dream is for a larger house to replace it, with wider doorways and wider hallways for those in wheelchairs, an elevator connecting the floors, and “finally having a basement for storage that won’t flood.”
She is hoping to use the main floor for respite care and more programs, as well as having extra space to move outdoor activities inside when the weather doesn’t cooperate.
Most of the bedrooms in the house are now shared, and the rebuild would allow for more single rooms, which are necessary for some clients, she said.
And on the beautiful outdoor Ranch property, she would love to see a gazebo or pavilion outside, instead of using an event tent when needed, said Bjorgan.
However there are many steps to get through before her plan can be put into action, including a capital campaign, but she hopes by 2025 she can move forward with seeing the concept become a reality.
Red Roof serves clients from across Niagara — there is nothing else like it in the region, “not even close,” said Bjorgan. And while the plan would be to increase capacity on the Concession 6 site, it wouldn’t mean a lot of new clients. “We would still want to keep its feel of being a home away from home,” she explained.
But with the majority of its support coming from NOTL, her vision is for the expanded space to remain in town. “This is where we started 25 years ago, and this is where we want to stay.”
