Hussar receives community funding support

Posted on: Staff Writer

From edition: September 14 2022 Strathmore Times

By John Watson Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Local farmer Kevin Slemko (second from the left) recently became the Alberta winner of the Hometown Roots Family Contest through Lallemand after purchasing their inoculant from the Strathmore UFA. After winning, Slemko chose the Hussar Community Hall as his choice of a hometown organization to receive a $5,000 from Lallemand, funds that were topped up by an extra $1,000 from the Strathmore UFA, totaling a $6,000 donation for the hall. Brett Yeske (l-r) of UFA, contest winner Kevin Slemko, Jayden Nail of UFA and Russel Nail of UFA, at the Hussar Community Hall.

Photo Courtesy of Lallemand

The Hussar and District Community Hall has received a $6,000 financial boost, thanks to a nomination for funding through a contest hosted by Lallemand.

Lallemand announced Kevin Slemko as the Alberta winner of the Hometown Roots Family Contest, which awarded him the opportunity to select an organization for a $5,000 contribution. 

Slemko made his purchase from the Strathmore UFA, which has since offered to add a $1,000 contribution to the Hussar and District Community Hall.

“The last couple of years have shown us that community functions and gatherings are a very important part of our life, not only for our sense of community, but also for out mental health,” said Slemko.

The contest draw was made available to legal Canadian residents within Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

In order to qualify, an applicant needed to have purchased 160 acres worth of a Lallemand branded inoculant, or they could opt to submit an essay describing what agriculture meant to the applicant and how they would use the funds to better serve their community.

“We wanted to create a campaign that kept family and community as that centrepiece. Just as we support the communities we live in, we wanted to provide a way for growers and their families to give back to the communities that they are a part of as well,” said Collin Sebulsky, marketing manager for Lallemand Plant Care. “We’re trying to find a way to get a bit creative and escape the noise of the standard medias for advertising … we are family owned so we tried to come up with a unique way to give back to communities.”

The contest ran from November 2021 until May 2022. According to a release, a winner was also selected in Saskatchewan and in Manitoba.

“Coming from a small town as well, it’s important to see those communities, you they can use any support they can get in most fashions, so it’s just really nice for us to be able to give back,” said Sebulsky. “It was quite successful, so we’re definitely running a similar campaign going into the following season. We’re hoping to launch that on Nov. 1 again and that’s how it ran last year was November through the end of May. And then the draw day was June 1. So, our intention is to do the same thing with the upcoming season.”

Slemko added he was impressed that organizations such as Lallemand and UFA had opted to support local communities and described that community involvement in agriculture at smaller scales is in decline, and it was a pleasant sight to see companies giving back.