Rise Above Holiday Craft Show,

About the event

Rise Above Bursaries for Single Parents is hosting a holiday craft show early December 2018 and we are looking for a sponsor!

Rise Above is a not-for-profit organization* that exists to help single parents start or continue their post-secondary education by offering bursaries based on financial need. To date, we have distributed just over $10,000. While we are committed to offering one $3,000 bursary annually, we would like to be able to offer two or three.

This is our first year hosting a craft sale and it is different from the events we have held in the past. For this reason, we see it as a great opportunity to connect with people who haven’t heard about us and our cause. Well advertised craft sales can bring in hundreds, if not more than a thousand, attendees. We are planning to have room for between 45 and 60 crafters.

A sponsorship of $4,000 would allow us to rent a large enough facility with ample parking and easy access by foot and by bus (at a cost of roughly $2,100) as well as pay for advertising (radio, ads in community papers, as well as on Facebook and Instagram) and event insurance. It would allow us to put all of the proceeds of the event towards a bursary/bursaries for the 2019-2020 academic year.

The event proceeds would consist of admission fees ($2.00 per person is the standard), table fees from crafters, and money brought in from a silent auction. We believe event proceeds would be somewhere between $4,500 and $5,500. (Enough for almost two full bursaries.) Additionally, we’d be able to grow our network significantly – making future fundraising endeavours easier.

We intend for this to be an annual event.

*We are currently in the process of applying for charitable status, although we do not have it yet.

Why should you sponsor?

This is about more than just a craft sale.

According to Michael Saini, a Canadian social worker and researcher, “Single parents will always be a reality — one that will remain irrevocably tied to poverty [...] There needs to be a way to help these young parents get out of poverty as well, to give them opportunities for education and to enhance their skills. If we make healthy children and healthy families. It will be to the benefit of society."

It’s true – the average employment income in female single-parent families with children under 6 years of age is $21,200. (1) What does that look like, really? Well, a two bedroom apartment in Winnipeg averages $1,167 per month (from as low as $750 to as high as $2,200). For a single parent who only makes $21,200 per year, that’s a MINIMUM of 42% of their income. Then we factor in daycare costs. The average daycare in Manitoba costs $451 per month ($5,412 per year) for toddlers and $651 per month ($7,812 per year) for infants. For a single parent who only makes $21,200 per year, that’s between 25% and 37% of their annual income. Between housing and daycare, already 67%-79% of their annual income, gone. That doesn’t count other bills (transportation, food, clothes, etc.).

How does a single parent fit university into the equation? The average cost of tuition for a year at the University of Manitoba in 2017/2018 is $5,200. This does not include the cost of books, parking or additional fees.

According to Dominique Fleury and Myriam Fortin’s book, “When Working Is Not Enough to Escape Poverty”, most low income women in Canada are working, but can’t earn enough to get out of poverty because they are stuck in low-paid and precarious jobs. Post-secondary education can help get single parents stuck in poverty out of this vicious cycle – but they need assistance.

This is about more than a craft sale. This is about strengthening families and our communities. This is about providing opportunities to single parents – opportunities that will change not only their lives, but the lives of their children as well.

If you partner with us, you can be part of that change.

(1) Income composition in Canada, National Household Survey, 2011

Cara Ginter

Rise Above Bursaries for Single Parents (RABfSP) is a not-for-profit organization* that exists to help single parents attend the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg MB, Canada. RABfSP offers bursaries of $3,000 to eligible applicants (a minimum of one per academic year).

We have distributed just over $10,000 to date.

*Charitable status still pending; the application process has been started.

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