The Prince Albert Royal Purple Elks brought back their drive thru soup and sandwich fundraiser again on Thursday at the Elks Hall.
Angie Nelson the Honoured Royal Lady (president) for the Prince Albert Royal Purple Elks said they normally have a Tea and Bake Sale in April and October, but decided this year to instead try a drive thru event for both months.
They held their first one in April, which helped them work out some kinks for their most recent event on Thursday.
“I think everything ran smoother except for that one little glitch,” Nelson said.
Demand was so high the event sold out a week early. Nelson said they viewed it as a huge success.
“We limited to 175 because when you are looking at extras, it means extra containers, (and) extra hands,” she explained. “There are still some ladies that do work. I think there is myself, there is my sister and there are three others that are still working, so they couldn’t get the time off at this time of the year. Sometimes it’s rough because it’s after Thanksgiving and it’s just before winter.”
The Royal Purple Elks also capped their April event at 175 orders, but originally thought they would only get 150. Nelson said the high demand shows it’s a perfect time for a warm meal.
“Everybody wants hot soup,” she said.
She explained that a number of people and organizations assisted with big orders including one of 30 sandwiches and bowls of soup. Others asked for 22 and 17.
Nelson said they were glad they could meet the demand.
“We only served three soups: the hamburger, the chicken noodle and the carrot,” she said. “This spring was a little bit different because we had a choice of brown (bread) but then they would come and they would change their minds. We ended up running out of brown so we decided white for everybody, egg salad and ham and that was it.”
Club members and volunteers helped to make sandwiches and soup, which was picked up or delivered during the day. Along with the soup and sandwich people also received a cookie for the price of $10.
The money raised will be used to help out various organizations in Prince Albert.
“We like to support seniors, we like to support the young people, or anybody who is looking for funding,” Nelson explained.
The Royal Purple Elks said they appreciated the community’s support for the event.
Michael.oleksyn@paherald.sk.ca
