How Choose to Change Sponsored the McAllen Christmas Parade of Over 200,000 Attendees

Updated: Feb 2, 2022

In this article:

How McAllen is able to host over 200,000 people at the Christmas Parade
Choose to Change sponsors the biggest event in the RGV
McAllen Parks & Recreation and Choose to Change team up to give the Valley a VIP experience!

Choose to Change Partners with the City of McAllen

Every year there is much anticipation for the annual McAllen Holiday Parade. The city of McAllen expects about 200 thousand people to attend the holiday parade. McAllen can only organize such a large parade by collaborating with many sponsors. Those included South Padre Island, H-E-B, and local organizations across the RGV. Organizations include Bert Ogden and this year, Choose to Change Foundation!

Two weeks before the event, a McAllen organizer asked us to sponsor this massive Parade. This meant a huge fundraising chance for both McAllen Parks and Recs and Choose to Change.

Because Parks and Recs are the "party planners" of the City of McAllen, they can section VIP seating for sponsors. Then, sell the seats to audiences who want the best view of the parade. VIP seat buyers also have easy access to parking and the Carnival to buy food to enjoy during the parade.

Naturally, we saw this as an excellent opportunity for three things. One is to bring awareness to the city of what Choose to Change does to parade-goers. Secondly, we will be able to raise a total of $3,000 together! And last, give our biggest supporters a great time at the Christmas Parade.

Finding the Fun in Fundraising

Within days, all our seats sold out! Everyone who bought front-row seating for the McAllen parade had a phenomenal time. Family and friends were able to sit together. They had a great time enjoying the beautifully decorated floats and seeing people of the RGV they recognized.

Choose to Change being sponsors of the McAllen Christmas Parade couldn't have worked out better. Christmas is all about "Giving Back," which is what Choose to Change is all about: giving back to our community. In the end, we were able to spread awareness of Choose to Change's mission while helping McAllen Parks and Recs raise money.