Shortcake Festival funds Boys & Girls Club

On Thursday, May 9, adults chatted in the shade as children sat on the grass of the courthouse lawn eating strawberry shortcakes.

“It’s always a fun event,” said Angie Cantrell, member of the Ladies Auxiliary of Bloomington who helped coordinate the Strawberry Shortcake Festival.

The festival is an annual tradition that has been upheld since 1987. Sponsored by the Boys & Girls Club and organized by the Ladies Auxiliary of Bloomington, this event raises money each year to support operational funds for the Boys & Girls Club.

“We couldn’t serve the kids of this community without the help of the Ladies Auxiliary,” said Sarah Heimer, resource development director for the Boys & Girls Club of Bloomington.

Every time someone dropped money into the donation buckets, the Ladies Auxiliary’s cheers could be heard throughout the festival lawn.

“We just want to help The Boys & Girls Club and this is one way we can do it, by providing hands-on support and raising money,” Cantrell said.

Heimer said it costs $540 per child to run the club, but the Boys & Girls Club charges only $20 per membership. She said with the help of this festival and the funds it provides, the goal is to remain available and affordable. 

“We provide all these great services like after-school programs, summer camps and other special events throughout the year,” said Brenda Salvo, unit director for Ellettsville.

Each year the day before the festival, the Boys and Girls Club provides pre-sale deliveries of their homemade strawberry shortcakes kits. On Wednesday, they oversold by almost 18 percent having started the day with 400 anticipatory orders and overselling by 75 kits.

“I don’t know exactly how many strawberry shortcakes we sold this year, but just from the pre-sales alone it seems that we most likely sold out,” Heimer said. “But it’s too early to tell.”

The day of the festival, they had roughly 3,000 servings of strawberry shortcake baked by the Hoosier Hills Food Bank along with donated ice cream from Bruster’s Ice Cream.

“We are just grateful for all the support,” Heimer said.