A shining light at the basket festival in Dresden
DRESDEN, OH- America’s Basket Festival took place in Dresden today. The event serves as a celebration of Dresden’s rich basketmaking heritage, aimed at bringing people back to this historically vibrant town.
At the festival there was one woman on a mission to raise money for the Ronald McDonald House charity through selling exclusive Ronald McDonald House baskets. This charity is her personal way to give back to the Ronald McDonald House, a place that she has stayed many nights with her son who has had to be in and out of Children’s Hospital over the years.
“Another family that is this year’s basket, this little boy spent nine weeks there, his family did, so if you add that up an average hotel is 150 dollars a night, you stay at Ronald McDonald House for free and this basket gives back 22 dollars, that 22 dollars feeds a family up there of four, so it doesn’t seem like a lot but it is a lot and every little bit helps, and so just getting the word out, I think as a parent of a child who has a long term illness its important, it’s not just hey let me sell a basket, it has to have a meaning behind it and Ronald McDonald is my meaning,” said Carrie Beth Carver, a proprietor at Dresden & Company.
Baskets are woven with the signature red and yellow weave and has an attached tag labeled with their chapter name and the year of sale. Your name will also be added to the list of those who have contributed to the Ronald McDonald House charities.
“If you’ve never experienced Ronald McDonald House you should definitely google it, Columbus has the world’s largest with 208 rooms and every night every room is booked, and there is families there from all over the United States, all over the world, people think that it is a free stay, technically it is a free stay but it takes money to run the Ronald McDonald House, though it’s just 22 dollars this does help a family of four to eat and you have basket that you hopefully pass down for generation to generation,” said Carver.
The charity serves as a unique way for you to make a difference. To get your basket you can visit Carrie’s Basket Connection on Facebook, you can give her a call at 740-571-2327, or you can email her at carvercarrie@ymail.com. The baskets will also be sold at Humble Heart in Dresden for the next few weeks.
