A new shopping opportunity will be a part of the annual pancake breakfast and bake sale at Hollandale Christian School. A shopping expo featuring holiday gift items from various vendors will be part of the event for the first time.

Discovery Toys, Pampered Chef and Creative Memories will be some of the vendors with items for sale from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. at the school. Displaying crafts and gifts for sale could attract more people to the annual event, said school principal Lisa Vos.

“The vendors will have their own sales representatives here to show off their products. We hope it will give a boost to attendance,” Vos said.

Saturday’s event is one of several fundraisers sponsored by the school each year. While student tuition provides the majority of the funds necessary for school operations, fundraising is an ongoing and necessary part of meeting expenses for the private school in northeastern Freeborn County.

Adult participation is crucial to the school’s fundraising efforts. School board members will provide kitchen help for the pancake breakfast in the gym, which begins at 7:30 a.m. and lasts until 10:30 a.m. Freewill donations are requested. Other adult school supporters will work at the bake sale, with the same hours as the shopping expo.

Typical attendance at the annual event is 150 people, and the addition of the shopping expo may provide extra incentive for shoppers unwilling to put up with the hassles of normal Christmas store shopping.

Other upcoming events include “Moses,” a musical play to be held on Feb. 27, and the annual Celebration Auction in March. The auction is supported by local businesses who are asked to contribute products and services by parents of the students.

“We have many faithful donors who help support the auction,” Vos said.

Hollandale Christian School has 80 students this year in kindergarten through eighth grades. Historically, the vast majority of students continue their education in the Albert Lea school system, but a new trend is emerging, according to Vos.

“Twenty-five percent of last year’s graduating class went on to Austin High School,” Vos said. Other students matriculate through the NHREG schools, Alden-Conger, and a Christian high school in Owatonna. Statistics reveal that 93 percent of the school’s graduates go on to college, Vos said.

The school regards its mission as providing for the spiritual, social and academic needs of it’s students, in order to produce well prepared and well rounded graduates, Vos said.

“We try to train the whole child,” he said.