Nellivander’s Shoppe hosted fundraiser for Oakley Carlson

By Allen Leister The Daily World • July 27, 2022 1:30 am
Although 16 months have passed since the disappearance of 5-year-old Oakville native Oakley Carlson, the East County community is still raising awareness and funds for people who help find the young girl. (Allen Leister | The Daily World)
Although 16 months have passed since the disappearance of 5-year-old Oakville native Oakley Carlson, the East County community is still raising awareness and funds for people who help find the young girl. (Allen Leister | The Daily World)

While most people wrap up their plans from the holiday weekend, others are continuing work on projects for a more significant cause. For the people of East County, nothing has been more important than the work raising awareness for Oakley Carlson.

On Friday, a local Elma business will be the next participant to help raise awareness and funds for the missing 5-year-old from Oakville. Nellivander’s Shoppe is hosting a “Let’s paint for Oakley!” event in which attendees will paint various scenes on canvas in a wellness-minded environment and step-by-step instruction to encourage people from all over to attend and paint.

Laurie Bremer, the owner of Nellivander’s Shoppe, said she’s been doing local fundraisers to help kids in the East County area for a while, but that her connection to Oakley’s parents is what prompted her to do a fundraiser for Oakley, as well as spread the awareness that the community still deeply cares about the disappearance.

“My family and I personally know Jamie and Erik (Oakley’s foster parents) and I just want to be able to help any we can with something that touches our heart in this community,” said Bremer.

Bremer continued by saying that 100 percent of proceeds will go to the reward fund for finding Oakley and that her event is for up to 20 people to attend given that only nine seats have been reserved so far. She recommends that people who are interested in being a part of the event donate a minimum of $25 and that a prepaid donation will guarantee you a seat at the painting event on Friday.

Although, Bremer also said that walk-ins are more than welcome the day of the event if space is available, as well as donations without attending the painting party are welcomed too.

According to the Oakley Carlson group page on Facebook, the reward fund for information leading to the discovery of the young girl, who has been missing for nearly 16 months, currently sits at $25,397 as of June 15, 2022. Multiple fundraising events have been set up over that time span to raise awareness and the reward fund.

For people who are interested in attending the painting party, the event will be held at Nellivander’s Shoppe located at 313 West Main St. on Friday, July 8, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. in Elma. Prepaid donations to secure a seat can be done at PayPal.me/nellivandershoppe and further information can be obtained by contacting Bremer at 360-867-3749.