Turning Leaf in Winnipeg Santa Claus Parade!
Last week was very busy for the crew from Turning Leaf as we prepared our very first float entry for the 107th Winnipeg Santa Claus Parade!
Participating in community events is an excellent way to raise awareness while also offering a great team-building opportunity and a fun family event for our staff.
Sponsors For Our Winnipeg Santa Claus Parade Float
Our goal was to have a great float! The best floats are the BIG floats – and the BIG floats require semi-trailers! We approached Brent Hildebrandt, Vice President of Operations at the Kleysen Group LP (and Brother-in-law to our Director of Communications). Brent arranged a volunteer driver, flatbed trailer with semi, as well as funding to help cover the cost of float decor. He even recruited his Dad (Norm) to build benches, and then helped us decorate in time to have something to show off for the Wheeler In The Morning Show. On Parade day, Brent delivered the float, helped us with finishing touches and enjoyed a ride along with all our staff and volunteers as the Parade made its way through downtown Winnipeg! We are very grateful for your help Brent!
We also approached Astro Parade Float Materials who were very generous offering us an amazing discount on the decor and then coming to our rescue at the last minute when our specs had changed. Oksana at Astro Parade helped us plan our colours and our theme. Thank you Oksana!
You may have noticed that we recently re-branded, so we needed new banners asap! Our good friend Randy over at Dave’s Quick Print referred us to SpeedPro Imaging and they were more than happy to donate the creation of our banners.
Volunteers from our Event Committee collected items for the finishing touches on our ‘Family Christmas Morning‘ themed float. The Winnipeg Santa Claus Parade office generously donated the rental of a dozen Parade mascot costumes and Manitoba Hydro contributed lit wands for everyone to wave with from the float!
The Winnipeg Santa Claus Parade Great For Nonprofits
Turning Leaf is among many nonprofit organizations who participate in The Winnipeg Santa Claus Parade to raise awareness for our various causes. Our Parade experience is an excellent example of how our community comes together to support those in need. We wanted to participate in the Parade to raise awareness about the work we do and we went out and found companies who care about helping in the mental health industry. That is a story that is duplicated by many of the other nonprofits in the Parade. Winnipeg Crimestoppers participates every year – and ‘The Grinch’ float is definitely a hit year after year!
Other nonprofits that we see each year at the Parade include; The Salvation Army, MADD Winnipeg and Chemo Savvy. The Christmas Cheerboard is the official charity for the Parade using the day to kick off their annual fundraising initiative by collecting nonperishable food items along the route.
The day was an excellent experience for all our staff, their families and our volunteers! We are already looking forward to participating again next year!
We are always looking for volunteers to help us with various events. If you are interested in volunteering on the Turning Leaf parade committee or any other event planning committees you can register online to become a volunteer by clicking here.
Watch the Winnipeg Santa Claus Parade Special
Featuring Turning Leaf on Wheeler In The Morning
Watch our crew from Turning Leaf alongside Kleysen Group staff and Astro Parade as we begin decorating our first Winnipeg Santa Claus Parade float. Thanks to our hard working staff who volunteered with the planning and prepping of our float, our amazing sponsors and the volunteers who came out on Parade day to help fill our float with lots of smiling faces!
Turning Leaf on Shaw TV at The Winnipeg Santa Claus Parade
It’s Parade day and everyone is having a wonderful time! It all begins with the delivery of our float at 10:30 am followed by a visit to the costume tent to pick up the gingerbread men, the monkey, bull-riders, a banana, snowmen and even a great big toy robot! The kids are dressed in their favourite Christmas jammies and housecoats and everyone is excited to be here and delighted by the beautiful weather!
Enjoy our photos from The Winnipeg Santa Claus Parade!
