EAST HELENA — Although it may seem we are rebounding from the COVID-19 pandemic, many are still left with challenges. These challenges may now be affecting our celebrations. Shellie’s Country Cafe says they are struggling to gather enough funds for 2021’s Prickly Pear Firework Celebration in East Helena.
2021 marks the fifth year Shellie’s Country Cafe has hosted the East Helena Firework Show. They say it’s an honor, but with some difficulties.
“I mean we enjoy doing this, it is a lot of work and this year seems to be a little harder trying to pull money together," says Shellie Mitchell, the owner of Shellie’s Country Cafe.
Shellie says they simply need help. They are nearly $9,000 short of funds needed to reach Town Pump’s matching contribution of $15,000 for the celebration. Gathering donations has been hard due to an odd year from the pandemic.
“It's a different kind of year. Everybody's trying to come back after the COVID and we want to celebrate,” says Shellie. “We're kind of getting the COVID thing handled so we want to celebrate, get our freedom back, and this is part of that. So we need your help."
The deadline to gather funds is in one week and if enough is not gathered, 2021’s celebration may be smaller. Shellie hopes she doesn’t have to scale back the display and wants it to be something really special for the community.
“I want to forget last year, I want to forget, I want to enjoy, we need some happiness. And this, it's one of my favorite times of the year. This is why I do it and I think we all need a little celebration in life right now," says Shellie.
You can donate in-person at the cafe, any Valley Bank location, Heritage Food Store. You can also donate online here.
