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Editorial: Daffodil Festival needs community involvement

Pierce County’s youth grant comes at an ideal time for the Daffodil Festival. In January, princesses will begin their training and the grant will cover about a third of the cost.

The grant, though, is a one-time thing and not enough to save the future of the Festival past 2010.

The Festival has been struggling for years and a down economy doesn’t make this situation any better. Other than the grant, Pierce County can’t help fund the annual parade. Lakewood and Sumner are giving less than usual, Fife has said they will donate but haven’t give an amount and Puyallup and Tacoma haven’t responded one way of another.

Through small fund raisers, the Festival has been making an valiant effort at raising the money on their own but car washes, spaghetti feeds, a princess tea and baseball games have made only a $6,000 dent in a $225,000 budget.

Festival leaders have plans to make these fundraising more successful in the future — Finance Director Robyn DeLorm wants to see “a sea of yellow” in the baseball stands and there will probably be two shifts for the princess tea.

However, for the Festival to continue past next year, they will need a lot more help from the community. It’s not necessary for one organization for finance the whole celebration. This is a community parade, which means it’s the chance for many companies and individuals to get involved and make this successful.