Auction success

Times Contributor  

 

On August 3 members of the Cheadle 4-H club auctioned off a charity steer at the World Professional Chuckwagon Association races, with proceeds of the sale going to the Wheatland County Food Bank. The sale of the steer exceeded all expectations, being sold and donated back about five times, reaching a grand total of $25,250. This is not the first time the club has auctioned off a charity steer; last year they sold one at their district 4-H show for $7,000, an impressive sum of money, but nothing compared to the success this year. 

“We had a charity steer last year but we sold it at our district 4-H show so there wasn’t as many buyers and it wasn’t as big of a crowd to sell it to,” said Erin Warrack, member of the Cheadle 4-H club. “So with this venue and with all the people that we had, there was a lot of opportunities for us to sell it and donate it back and get more money to raise for the food bank.”

The club partnered with Encana for the second year in a row. Encana promised to match the money raised, dollar for dollar, making the total donated to the Wheatland County Food Bank $50,500. 

The club was hoping a bigger venue would help them raise more money, and they were certainly right; it was an important choice to switch to the chuckwagon races. 

“I guess it’s just that there would definitely be more buyers and more support for the food bank,” said Sabrina Kooistra, vice-president of Cheadle 4-H club. 

The members were thrilled with the support they got from the companies who bought and donated back the steer. Northwest Livestock, TERA Environmental Ltd, Roadtrek Motorhomes, Global Training Centre and finally Boots and Boost Tires and Performance all bought and donated the steer back to the cause. The steer is set to go to market yet again with the final proceeds adding to the grand total. 

“I think it’s pretty awesome that they supported and kept going back in, like five times,” said Kooistra. 

The auction and the combined participation of the Strathmore Stampede, 4-H members as well as parents, and of course the buyers made this charity auction as successful as it was. 

“It promotes a sort of local connectedness, and it promotes 4-H as what 4-H is about, it’s about giving back to the community and it’s really good to just give back” said District Representative for Cheadle 4-H, Mike Brewin

“The community supports 4-H, buying the steers, sponsoring the sale, it’s just a way to payback some of the money back to the community,” said Warrack. 

As a small club, this is a big initiative to take on and the food bank is certainly grateful. 

“It was an amazing donation,” says Wheatland County Food Bank Treasurer Pat McCullouth, “which is clearly indicative of the monumental support we get from our community from both individuals and corporations.” 

As a small club with only 14 members, this was an ambitious undertaking and luckily the kids had a lot of support from their parents. 

“They’re 14 kids with big dreams,” said Clarence Kooistra, father of members Sabrina and Maria. 

As for next year, the Cheadle 4-H club plans on keeping with the trend of their large donations, and they’ve decided that this venue is key. They’re not letting the success get to their heads though. Commenting on their plans for next year, Sabrina Kooistra said, “I think we’d probably try to do that same thing again, I think it worked pretty well.”