Business

Fire & Ice | Helping Hands for the Holidays fundraiser is set for Nov. 24

Donations are welcome

The 27th annual Helping Hands for the Holidays - "Fire & Ice" is seeking the community's generosity to continue its support of three local organizations this holiday season next week.

"It means the world to me to be able to continue to host such a meaningful night to kick off the holiday season with the true meaning of the season, which is giving. It has been one of the greatest joys of my life," Aubuchon Team of Companies President Gary Aubuchon said.

The event, which is hosted by The Aubuchon Team of Companies, will take place from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 24, at 4707 SE 9th Place, Cape Coral.

The event will once again directly support Make-A-Wish Southern Florida, Builders Care, and Ronald McDonald House Charities of Southwest Florida.

"It is important because of the three charities that benefit from the event are very integral to our community in helping those who are going through difficult times," Aubuchon said. "Part of why we continue to do this is to take the three charities and shine a spotlight on the important work that they do in our community."

Last year, he said, they raised a total of $67,500, which brings their "27-year total to approximately three quarters of a million dollars."

Each year the goal is to exceed the previous year's total by $1.

"We are out to exceed last year's record," Aubuchon said. "It's a testament to the giving spirit of our community. It's wonderful to open up the doors and because we don't require RSVP, we open up the doors, and hope giving people will walk through them. Every year, they exceed our expectations."

Director of Marketing Shannan O'Brien said the Fire & Ice theme came from one of their employees, which follows the theme of the Rudloph movie.

"We are going to divide our building in half. The first floor is going to be the land of the Snow Miser. We are hoping to soon have a 9-foot Abominable Snowman in our lobby with the Christmas tree," she said. "The land is heat on the second level for us."

Every year, they change the theme of the event, which in past years has been a Winter Wonderland, candy canes and gingerbread, and Nutcracker.

Although it is hard to determine how many people attend the event, O'Brien said they believe about 200-300 people attend. She said last year they had so many people in attendance they ran out of chairs.

"We are expanding our seating area to accommodate - it was exciting last year to see," O'Brien said.

Aubuchon said as the event has grown, they have intentionally spread the crowd throughout the entire 21,000-square-foot headquarters building.

"We couldn't accommodate everybody in the main common area of our building. We have intentionally created spaces within the building for people to go to," he said.

Those spaces include a dessert station, dinner station, Santa's workshop and two bar areas for beverages. 

O'Brien said they are dedicating an entire room to photos with Santa this year.

"The event begins at 5:30 and then at 6:30 Santa arrives on his sleigh. Then we are able to start the photos with Santa," she said.

The dinner sponsors this year are Cabinet Genies. The food will be provided by Ceno Grill and Salad King.

"The interior design center is full of desserts and brought in from all of our staff. It's a great way for anybody to make their contribution," O'Brien said.

The event will also feature a DJ.

The staff also volunteers at the event by taking donations, bar service, greeting guests at the door, serving food, helping in the dining area and finding a spot for guests to sit.

"It's a great way for our entire team to all give back," she said.

O'Brien said she would love to invite those that are not able to make the event to stop by between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday to take a picture by the tree and see all the decorations, which will stay up through Christmas.

She said they work with Collaboratory to continue to accept donations after the event, which can either be made by check or through the website https://swfla.iphiview.com/swfla/OnlineDonation/tabid/542/dispatch/contribution_id$121673_hash$ca8d95d2d044b08910f3942a0dcca4d91c408195.

Check donations should be made out to Collaboratory with a memo of Helping Hands and dropped off at 4707 SE 9th Place, Cape Coral, FL 33904.

A check presentation to the three charities will be made on Dec. 19.

"If people aren't able to get to the event, they still have plenty of time to give," Aubuchon said.