Chills for CHEO in 2007 was a tremendous success with over $61000 raised and almost 10000 people served. At our peak operational hours we were raising more than $50/minute for the children's hospital.
Last year it became evident that our home-based haunted house had exceeded the limitations of the neighbourhood as thousands of people came from all across Ottawa to enjoy the event. The streets were overrun with excited patrons and wandering ghouls and despite the positive energy and good will of everyone involved, the sheer volume of people created situations that were not aligned with our core values of safety and quality.
As a result, Chills for CHEO can no longer be hosted in a residential neighbourhood. The transition from a home-based haunt to a more commercial event is a daunting venture that will require substantial investment, planning, and management. As parents with young families and evolving careers, the founders of Chills for CHEO are not prepared to make that transition at this time.
In consideration of these facts, there will be no Chills for CHEO event in 2008.
We will consider a permanent location for Chills for CHEO if one becomes available. The Chills for CHEO event has a considerable inventory of professional haunted house materials, props, and equipment and we would consider offers for other interested parties to take over the operation in future years. If this interests you, please contact us at ellisd@urthgate.com
It has been a true pleasure entertaining you over the years.
Kindest regards from the Chills for CHEO Team.
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4 comments:
Have you tried asking the glebe community centre? It has a great space, and if it's for charity, maybe you guys could be accommodated. This is sad news as I was going to bring my friends to show them how awesome it was.
I'm really disappointed in the lack of Chills for CHEO this year, it was the highlight of my last two Halloween seasons. :\ Guess we're stuck with Saunder's Farm again....
I too will miss Chills for CHEO this year. Last year was my first year, and I was greatly looking forward to it again. I can't wait to hear about a future Chills for CHEO. I hope its next year!! I live near the Glebe, and I agree the community centre would be a great place! Or possibly a school that has been closed down or not in use anymore...
I think a community centre would be alright. Another option to consider is if you could make 2-3 locations to spread the number of people out.
Another option might be the parking space area at dows lake / carleton university. That is a big area and I'm sure building a temporary structure wouldn't be a big deal
Another option could be to partner with a farm other than saunders, or even the experimental farm to use an existing structure / fabricate a temporary one for the 3 weeks the haunted house is in operation.
Hope that helps because I'm really going to miss the haunted house this year.
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