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Writer's picturebrittanymarkham

The 2024 results of Damian's Not-So-Haunted House!



Have I recovered yet?


It's been 5 days, but I can't say I feel refreshed haha! In fact, at the time of me writing this, almost everything is still up exactly as it was on the last night of our fundraiser. But right after I publish this blog post I'm going to go outside and start packing everything back up - it's WINDY today, and it's finally time to call this one done.


I know you have all been wanting to hear how we did!! So let's get into it!!!



2024 Enhancements


Our two very big additions to our walkthrough experience, the Mickey ghost animation and the pumpkin Mickey photo op, were SUCH a value-add!


Our setup in the front was fine last year, but we were so needing an additional something to make it clear that this place was a destination. With most of the magic inside our garage and not visible from the street, I didn't want any approaching visitors wondering if they'd come to the right address!


Our pumpkin delivered the "Wow" factor I was looking for and, just as I'd hoped, most families who came made sure to get a photo with it (even sometimes forming a line to get a picture!). It made me so happy to see how much people enjoyed it!!


As for the Mickey ghost, I am so pleased with how it turned out! The ghost room at the end of our walkthrough needed to be a finale moment and while I'm already thinking of ways to fill out the room even more next year, I think this addition really gave this space a solid beat of surprise and much more of that finale-feel it needed!


Brock did such a great job lending his voice for the animation! The handful of people who asked me how I was able to get the official voices for Mickey (and Minnie) for our attraction were shocked when I told them that it was actually my husband and my sister :)



Unfortunately I didn't have time to make the grandfather clock and Figaro the cat and a few other things I wanted to add this year (a certain pumpkin took quite a bit longer to make than I anticipated!) but I still have all the supplies I need and plan on making those pieces soon so we're more prepared for next year!


I'm trying really hard not to get ahead of myself but I'm already looking forward to enhancing our little Not-So-Haunted walkthrough even more!



Our Visitor Count


I decided early-on that I wasn't going to have a monetary goal for this fundraiser, but I did have a goal to beat last year's attendance (a total of 1,073 people).


To achieve that, I knew I needed to get on as many local haunt lists as I could. Luckily, along with a bunch of social media and news outlets, we were able to get onto a really popular list called the "So Cal Haunt List" - and I noticed a lot of our visitors came our way because of our listing on that website (some people even traveling quite a ways to see us!!).


We also got to be on a local TV station to promote the event! Here's our full 11-minute interview if you're interested in watching (don't mind Damian, who slept very soundly during the entire interview, haha!!)


So what was our total attendance???


We beat our record!!!


In 10 nights, we had a grand total of 1,437 people come through Damian's Not-So-Haunted House!!! WOOHOOOO!!!!



How Much We Raised!


Oh my goodness, I could not have done this event by myself, let alone bake all the incredible goodies that we sold. SO many talented friends contributed a huge assortment of delicious goods from sourdough bread to brownies to cake pops to chocolate-dipped pretzels. We nearly sold out almost every night (and we operated this for 10 nights!). I can't thank these talented bakers enough!!!



On a few nights we also sold bracelets, Mickey ears, Halloween sweaters, and custom stickers, all made by talented friends and neighbors! We nearly sold out of everything!


Additionally, on two nights, my incredible friend and professional photographer offered family photo sessions in our yard, with all proceeds going to our fundraiser. What a gift!!


And now, without further ado, here are the full results of our fundraiser!! Drum roll!!!



I've said it before, I'll say it again: the Santa Clarita Valley community is a gem of a community. I am so glad we live here.


I got to meet (or see again) 1,437 people throughout this event and every family that came through was so kind and gracious and generous.


Many people asked about Damian and genuinely wanted to learn about our campaign and how they could help. Many came because they heard about our campaign through local news and wanted to support us. And all came, just as I'd hoped, because they wanted to make fun Halloween memories with their family and friends (some families even coming back multiple days because their kids wanted to go through the walkthrough again or bring their friends to it–the biggest compliment!!)


I'm just so grateful for people. People are so good.


To everyone who helped make this Not-So-Haunted but OH-SO-AWESOME fundraiser a success:


  • those who helped purchase supplies from our Amazon registry

  • those who donated to help me purchase additional supplies

  • those who lent their power tools and gave building advice

  • those who volunteered during the event to run the bake sale table or the trick-or-treat door

  • those who baked incredibly yummy goodies for the bake sale

  • those who made the cutest merchandise for us to sell

  • those who CAME to our event and were so generous!!

  • those who liked, commented, saved, and shared our Instagram and Facebook reels about our event (which influenced so many people to come and made a HUGE impact on our social media growth last month!!!!!)


to all of you who were a part of this one: THANK YOU


I am so so grateful for you.



BIG Announcement


I'm SO excited to announce that with the success of this fundraiser, we have now officially surpassed another big campaign milestone.


$1.1 MILLION


CAN YOU BELIEVE IT???


We are inching ever closer to our halfway mark ($1.5 million) and I'm feeling very optimistic after the incredible growth we saw on social media just from this last fundraiser.


Honestly, it's pretty clear after the last couple big projects that "The People" want to see more crazy crafts and art/entertainment. That's what is going to continue to grow our campaign. And that's GREAT, because it's very fulfilling for me to make these projects, Damian likes watching me make them, and they're getting us more and more attention, which is introducing our campaign and our mission to more and more people. Win win win win.


I cannot WAIT for the day when I can go on my Instagram stories and announce that if everyone watching my stories just donated one single dollar, we would finally reach our $3 million goal to finish developing lifesaving treatment for Damian (and every child with ASMD). I don't know when that will happen, but I'm already calling it "One Dollar Day." And I can't wait for it.


I guess the big question now is... what are we going to make next?



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