MOUNT FOREST – For 15-year-old John Ray, fundraising is just a part of life, and his latest project is an extension of work he has already been doing.
The Wellington Heights Secondary School Grade 10 student, who can be seen selling farm-fresh produce and meats at the Wellington North Farmers’ Market in warmer months of the year, has published his own cookbook, sharing recipes that are perfect for using the ingredients he sells.
It’s called Big John’s Farm Fresh Recipes: Quick, Healthy, Easy and proceeds from the sales of the book will go toward buying a new vehicle for his family – one that will accommodate his wheelchair.
“We always need to do fundraisers,” said Ray, noting he first started selling food at the farmers’ market for that reason.
Ray has congenital muscular dystrophy, and has never been able to walk.
A motorized wheelchair helps him get around and a mobility van – one that safely accommodates the chair and allows him to get in and out with relative ease – helps him to get around on a larger scale.
But these things are costly and very little of the cost is covered by government support.
“Every 10 years, the government does pay a little bit, but it’s not enough for what I need,” Ray said.
The family’s current van has served him well, but it’s reaching the end of its life, he said.
“We’re running into a point where the van has so many kilometres on it,” he said, noting the vehicle must regularly make the trip to Hamilton, where Ray’s doctor is located, as well as to other medical appointments, while also providing general transportation.
This past summer, while in Hamilton for a doctor’s appointment, Ray and his mother returned to the van to head home only to discover the power steering line had failed.
“We had to call a tow truck,” said Ray. His father had come to get him, putting him into his pickup truck without his chair, and securing the chair into the flatbed – not an ideal way to get around on a regular basis.
Ray estimates a new van will cost at least $100,000 due to the modifications it will require.
At $25 each, cookbook sales will only provide a fraction of the money, with Ray saying the goal is to raise between $5,000 and $6,000.
But the cookbook is something that has been in the pipeline for a while; a project that Ray and his mother Trina Reid-Weber planned to undertake together.
“We’ve wanted to make one for a few years now, we just didn’t really know where to start,” said Ray.
Together they researched and found a company online that would mass-produce them, he said.
Mount Forest Chamber of Commerce treasurer Sharon Wenger, left, presented the chamber’s Youth Citizen of the Year award to John Ray on Oct. 18. Photo by Georgia York
In a Facebook message, Reid-Weber told the Advertiser the project made sense because of the work Ray already does raising meat and growing vegetables on his grandparents’ farm and selling vegetables at local markets.
“He is known for his ability to teach people how to eat healthy and prepare different foods he sells,” she stated.
Ray did all the leg work to produce the book, while continuing to be an honours student, she said, crediting her son with coming up with the idea and designing the project himself.
“I really love food, and my mom likes cooking, and my family has a lot of really great recipes,” Ray said.
The book has about 35 recipes, the majority of which are tried-and-true family favourites, but there were also a few that were contributed by local celebrities, he said.
For example, Joe Wettlaufer of 88.7 The River contributed a vegetable stew.
Another radio personality, Chris Holden, provided a spaghetti recipe, and Perth-Wellington MP John Nater contributed a recipe for granola protein bites.
Ray said his favourite recipe in the book is probably his potato soup, but he’s looking forward to testing out the celebrity contributions.
He said he’s hoping to leverage fundraising dollars to host a chili dinner fundraiser in May – a 16th birthday celebration – that he hopes will bring in even more money.
“When I was little we did a spaghetti dinner to raise money for the first van,” Ray recalled, noting he expects the chili dinner to be even more successful.
So far, his books have sold well, with more than half of the 250 that were produced in mid-November already snapped up.
“There were a lot of people wanting to buy them as gifts,” Ray said.
The cookbooks can be purchased at Hybrid Hair and Detox Spa in Mount Forest, where Reid-Weber works, or by messaging Trina Reid-Weber or John Ray on Facebook.
Ray is also among the artists with work on display in the salon’s upstairs and outdoor galleries.
Proceeds from the sale of his artwork will also support his fundraising cause.
