We recognize and respect that every dollar we receive is a valuable contribution that should be spent wisely.
We are constantly reviewing our spending, options for the services we obtain, and the long term sustainability for our event in general.
In this light, one of the activities we added to the park the past couple of years were bouncy castles and let’s be honest, kids of all ages from 2-102 enjoy bouncy castles even if their body doesn’t agree it’s a good idea.
There are a few issues with bouncy castles that we have found anyway for an event our size, the length of our event, and at the time of year it’s held.
Cost: From the cost of each inflatable itself and the generator to run them, to the separate event insurance required for liability purposes, these are not cheap assets to include in your game day plans although a great job if you can justify the costs.
Time: Seeing as though the ‘Fun Day’ aspect of our event is only two hours long, the time the assets are used itself makes it hard to justify costs.
Weather: The first year we had bouncy castles was in 2017 where the weather had most of us running around in t-shirts. Some 250 kids attended and these inflatables were a hit.
In 2018, we were hit with the most rain we’ve had in all the years we have been running this event. Although we are a rain, snow, shine event as is actual Halloween itself, that is not true for bouncy castles.
We still did get some decent use and they were still a hit, weather is certainly another variable in the decision to either have them or move on to something else.
For 2019, we are trying a new activity but in keeping with the inflatable theme, we will have two ‘bouncy games’ which can run rain or shine. This guarantees full use, it’s a third of the cost, and there is no extra insurance required which for $2M liability insurance, is around $350 in itself.
So you have likely already noticed that we have adjusted our fundraising targets for 2019, and you may have also seen a big hike in where we are with our target which is thanks to the generous support of the United Steelworkers Union (USW).
Thank you USW for your generous support and for being our very first Kate Andrus Pumpkin Prowl Super Hero Sponsor for donations over $500 and under $1,000. You can find more about these sponsor brackets at http://www.pumpkinprowl.ca/donate#brackets_badges
We have 10 days to hit our target. You can donate monetarily, time on event day volunteering, or by donating candy or non candy trick-or-treat items and you can drop these items off either with us, Vagabond Saints at 3 Spring Street in Hamilton, Stone & Shadow at 95 Ottawa St N., and Wrap Around Hamilton at 875 Main St E (Shalem) has also offered a drop off location but you have to call first to arrange a drop off time.
Have a great Tuesday and stay-tuned tomorrow for an exciting media update.