Creative – and Fun – Fundraising in Time for Easter

By Lori BODNAR, intern

The Easter Bunny is on its way – the Montrose-Verdugo City Chamber of Commerce (MVCC) is making sure of it!

The Chamber is organizing an “egg-citing” event called “Egg My Home.” Folks can order eggs filled with wrapped candies that will be scattered on yards by MVCC members. Candy-filled egg deliveries can also be donated to neighbors, friends or families in need who may enjoy the surprise Easter morning fun.

Mavil Aghadjanian is the executive director of the MVCC and had been brainstorming about raising money for and awareness of the Chamber. She said she wanted to help the Chamber by creating an event that would also be profitable for it while being fun for the community and helping business members.

“Vartan Djihanian from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce invited me to a chamber professional group where we all shared ideas that have worked for us,” she said. “The inspiration came from one of these chamber professionals. Their Easter Egg Hunt was slightly different. I thought it would be a great idea to include a Golden Egg opportunity to make it more exciting while supporting a local restaurant. In this year’s case, Ocean View Bar and Grill is the $100 gift certificate in the Golden Egg prize.”

Aghadjanian will be delivering the eggs with the help of MVCC President Raffi Ashdjian. She added that the rest of the Chamber board may be helping because the response to the fundraiser has been so strong. 

“This Easter Egg My Home is a fun family event and people don’t have to leave their house,” Aghadjanian said. The MVCC will deliver the eggs by 8 a.m. on Easter morning, April 4.

The Chamber of Commerce traditionally holds the Oktoberfest and Montrose Food & Brewfest events, its main fundraisers, as well as recognition of veterans for Veteran’s Day and Memorial Day, but has adjusted its plans during this past year due to the pandemic. Aghadjanian said she hopes that the “Egg My Home” fundraiser will help offset the losses from the cancellation of the bigger fundraisers.

“We set out with a low goal of $500. We wanted to make sure it was affordable for both the sponsors and for those purchasing,” she said. “If the response continues to be overwhelmingly positive, we may surpass our goal.”

She went on to thank the supporters, donors, and participants who appreciate the Chamber’s efforts. These include Spiritual Heart Yoga Center, J’s Maintenance, Verdugo Plumbing, Caspian Services, Crescenta Valley Weekly, and Glendale Area Schools Credit Union.

On Tuesday night, the MVCC held a virtual comedy night at no cost to attendees that many people enjoyed for an uplifting laugh.

“St. Patty’s Comedy Night was an early St. Patrick’s Day celebration,” Aghadjanian said. “We will consider doing another comedy night again.” 

One of the comedians from the comedy night was Steph Clark who is the founder of Funny Girl events and an LA native and comedian. Another performer was Tom Clark, who has prior appearances on Comedy Central’s “Premium Blend” and “Late Night with Conan O’Brien.” The comedian Scott Vinci also gave the audience a good laugh at the St. Patrick’s comedy night. He has previously performed at the Hollywood Laugh Factory as well as other venues across the nation.

There are around 200 business members in the Montrose-Verdugo Chamber of Commerce and in addition to the newspaper, Aghadjanian looks to social media to spread the word of what the Chamber is doing.

“Facebook has been a great resource for businesses and for the Montrose Chamber of Commerce. We made a Facebook group for MVCC members to support each other, brainstorm, plus ask and answer questions,” she said.

Those who would like to volunteer as a special bunny to help out for the “Egg My Home” Easter egg deliveries and are at least 18 can contact the Montrose-Verdugo Chamber of Commerce at mvcc@montrosechamber.org.

The “Egg My Home” event can be ordered in various volumes, such as 30 filled eggs for $25, 50 eggs for $40, 70 eggs for $55, and 100 eggs for $75. If this “eggs-cellent” celebratory egg hunt is ordered for a friend or neighbor, a personalized message of the identity of their special bunny who delivered the surprise can be communicated to the recipient through a “Happy Easter from . . .” message. To donate to a family in need, write DONATION in the special instructions address line and MVCC will deliver the order to a deserving family. The link to order the wrapped-candy filled eggs for the special “Egg My Home” deliveries is https://www.montrosechamber.org/easter/. The deadline to order the egg deliveries from the Chamber of Commerce is Friday, March 26.