Town gets behind fundraiser

"Daffodil Day seems to just grow and grow every year, it is wonderful to see," says Mary Dettling, Stratford's Daffodil Day committee co-ordinator.

Daffodil Day was a huge success again this year says Mary with more than 300 people attending the annual lunch at the Stratford War Memorial Hall.

"It was incredible to see how supportive the Stratford community is, even those who couldn't make it to the hall on Friday got involved by ordering some of the 200 take-away lunches." Using Toko Fire Station as an extra collection point for the lunches helped them reach more of the community, Mary says, and they will do this again next year.

The committee received a great deal of support preparing for the annual luncheon with "the Stratford Lions group setting up all the tables in the hall and clearing them all away afterwards". She adds that this year the tables were arranged differently, "which allowed room for more people to be there".

The committee was also helped by members of the Stratford Floral Art Society who arranged all the flowers for the tables and the bunches of daffodils for sale.

"We also had huge support from Stratford High School who sent us some wonderful student volunteers who helped throughout the day."

Mary says that the Daffodil Day success is a result of a big community effort, "with the donations of baking, daffodils and time we really are lucky to have such an amazing support system". The committee is also grateful for the donations of prizes for the raffles.

Mary would like to thank those who attended the lunch and made donations throughout the week, "every bit helps and is used to help someone affected by cancer in the Taranaki region".

While the final numbers will be calculated after the Daffodil Day disco, the committee hopes to match or beat last year's fundraising total of $18,000.

The Daffodil Day disco will be held on Friday, September 5 at the Stratford Rugby and Sports Club from 6pm.

More pictures on P9 and in next week's edition.