ROCHELLE — Small Business Bingo raised $3,540 to be split between nonprofits Habitat for Humanity of Ogle County and the Hub City Senior Center at its final event of this season on Thursday, Jan. 2 at the Chicagoland Skydiving Center hangar in Rochelle, Event Organizer and AP Massage Therapy Owner Ashley Patrick said.
“Despite the snow, we still had a really good turnout,” Patrick said. “We had over 200 people, which has been typical for us. It was helpful that the senior center provided its shuttle bus to help people get from their cars to the front door. It meant a lot to me to see the turnout. I was honestly nervous about how many people we’d see. People have had the holidays going on and have their kids home and some went back to work on Thursday. It shows how much people want to support this. It makes my heart so full.”
Small Business Bingo was started in 2023 by Patrick, who came up with the idea of bingo nights in the community with prizes donated by local businesses to raise money for area nonprofits. The fundraiser raised $18,853 for area nonprofits in 2023 with its inaugural four events. Its other events this year on April 4, Nov. 7 and Dec. 5 raised $4,105, $5,555, and $3,820 respectively.
Other nonprofits that have benefited so far this year include the Rochelle Area Community Foundation, The Kitchen Table, HOPE of Ogle County, Shining Star Children’s Advocacy Center, Focus House, and the Rochelle Township High School Education Foundation.
A food drive was also held at one event for the Rochelle Christian Food Pantry, along with a toy drive for the Community Action Network. Small Business Bingo has helped 10 nonprofits this year after helping five last year.
The events include bingo for $15 and raffles along with food and drinks available from the Flight Deck Bar & Grill. Patrick thanked the Flight Deck staff for being accommodating of the large crowds and for serving everyone.
“The first event had 175 people and the events that followed were over 200 and 300,” Patrick said. “There have been hundreds of donated bingo and raffle prizes from local businesses. Almost all of them have been local. That’s huge in my mind. Small businesses are asked for so much, and the fact that so many people have still helped has been incredible. People just step up. We’ve had great volunteers. We have people help out and call bingo for us. Everyone has been really supportive and that’s uplifting for me.”
Small Business Bingo has distributed a total of $36,540 to local nonprofits since its inception in 2023, Patrick said.
“I feel like things escalated quickly and continued to grow,” Patrick said. “It’s just been wonderful for me to have this experience. I feel like I’ve achieved my goal to fill a need and keep people involved and I’ve gotten to know these nonprofits. It’s been very eye opening to see what you can do when you put your mind to something and the community comes together.”
Patrick said the events will return in the future in some form, as she’ll now work to gather community feedback on what people would like to see before planning another event.
“I plan to revisit it in the future, maybe in the fall,” Patrick said. “I will look at it and see what we want to do, whether that’s bingo again or something else. We may change gears and do something different or stick with bingo. I want to keep things moving in a positive direction. I want to get feedback from people and see what they think. We’ll look at what we do next. I want to keep doing something accessible, affordable and simple for people to help those in need.”
