Veterans: Clovis Freedom Fest will happen — but donations are needed

The show must go on.

Freedom Fest, one of the Valley’s largest fireworks shows, was not going to happen this year after its annual organizer, Clovis Kiwanis, announced there was a lack of funds for the event.

Lorenzo Rios, CEO of Clovis Veterans Memorial District, wasn’t having that.

“In the military, when the flag goes down, you don’t care why it fell or whose responsibility it was to keep it up. Your job is to keep it up. Get the flag back up and march on,” Rios told the Kiwanis Club of Old Town Clovis on Wednesday. For several weeks he visited with members of local service clubs to ask for help to secure funds for Freedom Fest, to be held July 4.

“This is a patriotic event. It’s an American event. It’s going to be our Clovis event,” he said.

Thanks to support from the City of Clovis, Clovis Unified School District and local service clubs, the venue and fireworks have been secured.

But money is still needed to support the event, which features food, arts and crafts vendors, inflatable slides and bounce houses for children and more.

“Instead of putting the burden on any one club … we’re going to bring in other organizations to help out,” Rios said. “Rotary Club of Clovis and other local service clubs are helping out. We have two Boy Scouts troops and one Girl Scouts troop.”

Rios is asking corporate sponsors to step up with any amount they can. Donations are tax deductible.

“We’re not looking for one big sponsor to handle the expenses,” he said. “What we’re finding is there’s a lot more folks who can write a check for $1,000 than folks who can write a check for $30,000.”

Clovis Community Foundation has created an account to take those donations, Rios said. Checks may be made out to Clovis Community Foundation, with “Freedom Fest” written in the memo. Donations may be turned in at Clovis Veterans Memorial District, 808 4th St., Clovis.

The event will follow the same template as in previous years. The fireworks show will begin at 9 p.m. July 4 inside Clovis High School’s Lamonica Stadium.

“The No. 1 goal,” Rios said,” is to create a safe environment where we, as a community, come together to celebrate our national independence.”

Anyone who would like to help should call Clovis Veterans Memorial District at (559) 299-0471 or email specialevents@cvmdistrict.org.

This story was originally published May 25, 2017 at 9:29 AM with the headline "Veterans: Clovis Freedom Fest will happen — but donations are needed."