4-H Saskatchewan
It was an exciting end to a long day when the charity steer at the Prince Albert Finished Beef Show and Sale raised $63,000.
The 4-H clubs who participate in the Prince Albert Finished Beef Show and Sale – including West P.A. 4-H Beef Club, Canwood 4-H Beef Club, Weldon 4-H Beef Club, Torch River 4-H Club and Wild Rose 4-H Beef Club – have been hosting the charity steer event with the Prince Albert Exhibition for about 15 years, said West P.A. 4-H Beef Club member Sara Grassick.
“All the members contribute – they split up the feed costs and the value of the steer,” Grassick said. “The 80 kids that are showing up at this show pay for this steer to be raised, so it is really a community thing.”
Each year, a different 4-H club raises the charity steer. This year, it was the West P.A. 4-H Beef Club’s turn, she explained. Their club decided to donate the funds to the Rose Garden Hospice, which is a palliative care home being built in Prince Albert for terminally ill patients.
“This is something that sparked our interest and when you start looking into hospices, you wonder why don’t we have one,” Grassick said. “It is going to be a hospice not only for Prince Albert but northern Saskatchewan.”
The five 4-H clubs started the Dutch Auction by giving those who donated $25 an entry into the draw to win the steer. After a family won the steer, it was resold three more times in a traditional auction, raising a total of $32,584.
“We are also really excited because Malcolm Jenkins (the owner of the local Canadian Tire), he has decided to match all of the donations we have raised,” Grassick said. “We are pretty pumped.”
With the matching funds from Jenkins, the total donation to the Rose Garden Hospice was $63,000.
“It is going towards a great cause and something that means a lot to all of us because everyone has been effected by these awful diseases,” Grassick said. “To have somewhere, potentially and unfortunately your relatives can use, it means a lot to these kids.”
