A recent night of entertainment, giving back and gathering to celebrate the agricultural community in Lac La Biche County also raised thousands for two local causes. The June 29 supper, auction and entertainment event saw more than 300 guests fill the Bold Center’s Community Room.
The event was an opportunity to not only provide agricultural producers with a well deserved evening out and a break from the challenging production season, but also to raise almost $20,000 for Ukrainian aid, and a local family coping with a serious health issue, said Molly Fyten, the County’s environmental services manager, and organizer of the event.
“We raised $19,000…the event itself was the biggest and best Agricultural Appreciation Day we've ever had”and exceeded exceptions after having to cancel the event in recent years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, she said. “I think for just one night it took everybody’s mind off everything going on at home, on the fields and all the challenges that they've been facing, especially in the past two years.”
The event which was hosted by the county, the Agricultural Service Board (ASB) and Portage College was well-received and a it was nice to organize an affordable night for a group that provides so much for the community everyday, said Fyten.
“Although it was a larger scale event, we wanted to make it affordable…for that $20, you got an amazing, really nice meal. Everybody got a couple drink tickets and entered into tons of door prizes,” she said. “People were allowed to really get a lot out of one evening at a very low cost while helping others.”
The evening’s live entertainment was from veteran emcee Danny Hopper, who not only auctioned off the items but got the room into a spending mood, said Fyten.
“He’s pretty much anything you want Danny Hooper to be and he's really good at what he does. He was our emcee and he was our entertainer…he was able to fundraise some impressive amounts for us while keeping it funny and entertaining.”
Fundraiser
The evening’s $20 ticket sales were donated to support Ukrainians impacted by the ongoing Russian invasion. Additionally, with dozens of items donated by local businesses and community members, the money collected in the silent auction will help support ongoing medical needs of the two-year old son of Lac La Biche County Agricultural Fieldman Jacob Marfo. His son, Ezra has a rare form of cancer called Acute Myelogenous Leukemia. The toddler has been battling the disease since he was six months old and has been in hospitals for over a year. With the support from the auction, organizers are hoping to make the Marfo family’s battle a little easier during this difficult time, said Fyten.
More to give
The Agricultural Appreciation Dinner was not only a way to combine community members and community support, it was a stepping stone to more community support. Fyten has also organized an online auction to help the Marfo family. She said being “just short” of her $20,000 goal at the dinner wasn’t something she was going to let go.
“I get a number in my mind and I wanna hit it and I generally make it a very aggressive goal no matter what it is in my life and for this it was that $20,000 mark,” she says, adding that in the days after she posted a few collected items to create a small online auction, other community members began uploading items. “It ended up in a full blown auction.”
The online items are available until July 18.
She is overwhelmed by the outpouring of support for her co-worker and friend.
Ultimately, getting together and giving back to community members who make Lac La Biche the generous and great community to live is what it’s all about, she said.
