The Wellington Junior Farmers had been planning their 6th annual Spaghetti Dinner fundraiser for local food banks for a couple of months when the power went out due to a major ice storm on April 12.
After realizing the power may not be restored in Drayton until after the April 14 event, the group had to start compiling other ideas.
“Could we hook up a generator? Could we work out of a camping trailer? Would we have to reschedule this event? Could we find another location?”
These were all questions that came to mind for organizers Kristina Signer and Jen van der Meulen. However, in the end, they decided no matter what, this event had to go on, and started the planning process in case there was no power.
“Late Saturday night I received a call from a friend in Drayton wondering if the Spaghetti Dinner was still happening, and as I was about to answer they said, ‘never mind the power has just come back on in Drayton.’ Needless to say I was thrilled,” explained van der Meulen.
“However, when I drove through Drayton that night, I saw a completely different picture. There seemed to only be sections of streets with lights on in people’s homes, and the friend I spoke to lived on the other end of town from our location.
“I took a drive down Elm Street and thankfully the lights were on at the Agricultural Hall. The event would go on as planned.”
The Spaghetti Dinner has been an annual event since Junior Farmers was revitalized in Wellington County in 2008.
The group’s numbers had been down for the past couple of years, but this year the fundraiser was a huge success.
The group fed 87 people on April 14, and raised just over $630, plus non perishable food items to donate to the Drayton and Palmerston food banks. The club will be contributing an additional $70 to the donation, so each food bank will receive $350.
When Signer was asked what her favourite part about the Spaghetti Dinner was, she responded by saying, “I love that our club can do this simple dinner and make a big impact on our community.”
President Elbert Bouwman also responded by saying, “I was very excited to see how many people we had out this year; it was great to see the community come together to help those less fortunate.”
The Wellington Junior Farmers thanked their sponsors: Drayton Food Market, LM Palmerston, Gay Lea, Imperial Foods, Blooming Dales, Delmare Quality Foods Inc., and the Drayton Agriculture Society, noting the event would not be possible without their help.
“We would also like to thank our community and fellow Junior Farmer friends from across the province for attending, and supporting our local food banks,” organizers stated.
Join the club
Junior Farmers consists of people aged 15 to 29 from all occupations and walks of life. Members are people looking for fun, new challenges and an opportunity to be involved.
Junior Farmers is the only self-directed youth program in Ontario and strives to build future rural leaders through self help and community betterment.
Anyone interested in finding out more or joining the Wellington Junior Farmers can email wellingtonjf@jfao.on.ca.
