ChocolateFest leader urges people to donate directly to groups that will be hurt by the loss of 2020 event
The president of the volunteer ChocolateFest board is urging area residents to make donations directly to the organizations that will be hit hardest by the loss of the festival due to the coronavirus pandemic in 2020.
“…If you were going to go to ChocolateFest – and spend $50 or $100 – perhaps consider making a donation directly to these many worthy organizations that make ChocolateFest happen each year,” Bil Scherrer said in a news release issued Friday morning.
He announced Wednesday afternoon that the 2020 festival slated for Memorial Day weekend was canceled due to uncertainty caused by coronavirus.
ChocolateFest is organized and staffed by volunteers with the vast majority of proceeds from the event being returned to the community through the 14 non-profit organizations that staff the gates, clean the grounds, park cars, provide information and handle numerous other tasks during the four-day festival that has attracted about 35,000 people in recent years.
“Every person that serves on the ChocolateFest Operations Committee and Executive Board as well as each and every person who works in any capacity during ChocolateFest is a true volunteer,” Scherrer said. “There is no paid staff.”
In 2019, the total number of volunteers was approximately 750 people, he said. Instead of paying staff, ChocolateFest pays the non-profit groups that provide the volunteers.
Those groups, in turn, pour the money back into the community through a varied list of educational opportunities and service projects.
ChocolateFest officials estimate the annual event has returned $2.9 million to the community through the volunteer groups since the festival’s inception in 1987. In 2019, ChocolateFest paid out $111,770 to the volunteer groups, an increase of 17% over 2018.
“So you can understand that many of these volunteer groups depend on ChocolateFest each year as part of their budget revenues,” he said. “Life’s Choices, for example, does a marvelous job keep the grounds tidy. A major portion of their annual revenue is what they receive by working ChocolateFest. They won’t have that this year.”
The list of volunteer organizations that are contracted by the festival includes:
- B*Jazzled
- Boy Scout Troop 336
- Explorer Post 5100
- Faith Chapel
- Foursis Dance Academy
- Immanuel Church
- Life’s Choices
- Music Matters
- St. Charles Parish
- Waterford High School Choirs
- Burlington Kiwanis Club
- Burlington Lions Club
- Burlington Rotary Club
Scherrer said the potential loss of revenue for those groups will make the need for a festival in 2021 even more pressing.
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