By Meg Peters
Review Staff Writer
The annual Trivia Night, drawing quite the crowd Saturday, January 24, raised more than $20,000 for Lake Orion nonprofit organization Blessings in a Backpack.
Now, 200 more students in the Lake Orion community are guaranteed a pack full of food for an entire school year.
Blessings in a Backpack is a national organization that branches into 42 states, raising funds to give local children food to take home after school, packed safely in donated or new backpacks.
Blessings packs and sends off 300 backpacks every week.
One such fundraiser for Blessings in a Backpack’Lake Orion was Trivia night, which quizzed 27 teams of local parents, business owners, community members and educators for a night of community support. Ten people from each team competed in ten categories of whimsical wonders, from geography to literature and music trivia, in order to raise money for the local program.
According to the Blessings in a Backpack’Lake Orion website, there are about 1,500 students in local schools on the free/reduced lunch program.
Angela Snyder, chair fundraising chairwoman for Trivia Night and Blessings co-chair, said almost every Lake Orion elementary school was represented at the event. Blanche Sims Elementary purchased tables for 50 people who competed in the fun event, including staff from Webber, Stadium Drive, Orion Oaks.
Blessings feeds not only children in every Lake Orion elementary school, but also students from the three middle schools.
‘It was really supportive to our charity,? Snyder said. ‘It’s an amazing community event, everyone is so generous, and I can’t say enough about the Knights of Columbus.?
The event packed the Knights of Columbus on Orion Road Saturday night, as Deena Centafonte’Orion Township resident and investigative reporter and news anchor for Fox 2 News’took over on the microphone. Orion Township Supervisor Chris Barnett shared the master of ceremonies.
Much of the crowd last Saturday was represented by steering committee members, including Kellie McDonald, Jillian Nolan, Jodie Holden, Scott Ockerman, Tim Pringle, Birgit Mcquisten, Deanna Johnson, Jennifer Goethals, Diane Dunaskiss, Roberto Vecchi and Andrea Rank.
Trivia teams also included representatives from local businesses, including State Farm Insurance, Crates Coffee House, the Goddard School, Orion Area Chamber of Commerce, and Quantum. Buffalo Wild Wings Lake Orion sponsored the dinner, while Jim Rottenbock from the Knights of Columbus helped organize the event.
And at the end the night, Orion Oaks Elementary was the winner of the first Trivia Night Trophy, a rivaled title sought by each of the competing schools.
‘Our schools are key,? Snyder said.
To donate to the local Blessings in a Backpack send checks payable to Blessings in a Backpack Lake Orion P.O. Box 321 Lake Orion, MI 48361. $100 provides food for one child for an entire school year.