Immaculata’s Christmas craft fair spreads giving spirit

By Sarah Newman

Immaculata High School’s Christmas craft fair had its biggest year yet, and that’s not just good news for the staff and students at the Catholic school in Old Ottawa East.

The annual event, also known as MAC FAIR, took place on Dec. 2 and had a record-breaking 1,700 attendees. Thanks to the unprecedented number of shoppers, the fair managed to raise money not just for Immaculata pupils, but for communities ranging from Ottawa neighbourhoods all the way to Sialkot, Pakistan.

“My biggest fear, the thing that makes me lose sleep, is worrying about no one showing up,” said Heather Bryce, resource teacher at Immaculata and organizer of MAC FAIR. “But every year is bigger, every year is better.”

MAC FAIR raises money for Immaculata students by charging vendors a booth fee and visitors a $2 admission price. Every year, extracurricular groups such as the school soccer team and prom committee can apply to receive a portion of the proceeds.

“It can be really expensive for teams to go to a tournament,” said Bryce.

Bryce said that MAC FAIR proceeds also help pay the way for individual students who otherwise couldn’t afford to do extracurriculars. “Some parents can’t even afford to do laundry, let alone get their kids to events,” she noted.

As for helping the wider community, Bryce tries to give free booths to as many charities as she can budget. Most years have as many as eight or nine.

One of MAC FAIR’s longstanding booths is the Good Day Workshop from Shepherds of Good Hope, a Murray Street shelter and homelessness support centre. Shop manager Peter Newlands and Sister Maureen McKeown were onsite, selling wooden children’s toys.

“The participants made all of the toys we’re selling today, and all the money goes back into the program,” said Newlands.

The Good Day Workshop is a furniture restoration program for Ottawa residents who are unemployed due to homelessness, addiction or disabilities. Newlands said a significant number of their participants are from Centretown.

“The program was started by Sister Marilyn McGrath back in 1996,” said Newlands. “She was cutting hair at Shepherds of Good Hope, and she noticed that people on ODSP — Ontario disability payments — didn’t have anything to do during the day. They didn’t have money to go see movies, go for meals out, you know. So she gave them something to do.”

Newlands said the Good Day Workshop gives people valuable job skills, a free hobby, and most importantly, something to focus on and feel proud of.

Sister McKeown, who helped Sister McGrath start the program, agreed. “Sister Marilyn had a great desire to give these guys something to do, and they really enjoy doing it.” They especially love making the kids toys to help raise money, she added.

“There’s a little boy inside of all these big men.”

A second charity seller has a focus farther away: the children of Sialkot, Pakistan. Leslie Kaduck and her family’s jewelry company, The Little Dog Laughed, have enabled hundreds of Pakistani boys and girls affected by child labour get an education, in large part through funds raised by selling jewelry at events such as MAC FAIR.

While volunteering as a teacher in Pakistan during the 1990s, Kaduck befriended Mariam Yousef, a school principal.

When Kaduck came back to Canada, she kept in touch with Yousef.

“(Mariam) came down with a serious illness,” said Kaduck. “She was on leave, and because she was one of the only people with education in her village, the children were still coming to her house while she was recuperating from cancer and asking to be taught how to read. We had to find a solution.”

Together, Kaduck and Yousef founded the Rukh-e-Mariam school. “It’s both girls and boys, and what makes it unique in Pakistan is that it is also a multi-faith school; both Muslim and Christian children learn there,” said Kaduck. “It grew from a little group of kids under a tree in Sialkot, Pakistan to a purchased school that educates about 300 children every year.”

Both Newlands and Kaduck have nothing but praise for Bryce.

“Heather has been a wonderful cheerleader for Ottawa community charity initiatives,” said Kaduck.
Bryce, on the other hand, is happy to give credit for the event to her students.

“They come in at seven o’clock in the morning, they’re unloading the artisans’ cars, and they’re out on the Pretoria Bridge all day waving signs. They’ve been putting up flyers and lawn signs for weeks.”