BOYLE — Who could have guessed a few hot dogs could rally a community and provide money to help the Red Cross aid people in war-torn Ukraine.
After seeing the escalation of aggression to the people of Ukraine by the Russian military at the end of last month, Boyle School held a hotdog fundraiser March 4 which turned out to be a roaring success with students and staff all giving donations in return for a hotdog, juice box, and an ice cream. Close to 300 hot dogs were sold that day.
The event snowballed into something bigger in the community though, as more and more donations from local businesses and individuals from Boyle and the surrounding areas continued coming into the office, said business manager and Indigenous liaison Kathy Proctor in a March 21 e-mail.
In the end the school raised a grand total of $6,380 to donate to the Red Cross for Ukrainian humanitarian relief efforts.
“I think everyone feels the desire to help the people of Ukraine and people just don’t know how they can do that, so this was a perfect opportunity for them,” Proctor said. “Coming from Ukrainian roots myself this fundraiser was near and dear to me so each day when the donations were coming in, I felt such a sense of pride, we have some really amazing people in this community.”
Adding to the success of the event were North Corridor Co-op, Buy-Low Foods, R. Sweets, Catholic Women’s League, Boyle Value Drug Mart, Boyle Registries, Boyle Truck Stop, Rural Roots, and Rosich Farms.
“We would like to extend a great big thank you to all the students and families from Boyle School who donated, the people from the community and surrounding areas and the great business and organizations in our community who went that extra mile to make the fundraiser a success,” said Proctor.
That's not all that's going on in Boyle as far as finding ways to support the people of Ukraine either.
During the Village of Boyle's March 16 meeting, mayor Colin Derko brought forward the notion of finding a way to help bring Ukrainian families fleeing the war to the area.
"We are very interested in seeing how we might be able to be part of having some Ukrainian families moving to our area," he said later in a text message. "The situation is tragic and we do have a large Ukrainian community in our area so it seems like it might be a good fit for families that are displaced because of the war. We're not sure how but we do know that we want to help."
Another fundraiser, this one organized by the Gateway Community Church for this Friday, April 1, at the Boyle Community Centre, will see all donations go to the people of Ukraine through Samaritan's Purse. Organizers are inviting the community out for a night of entertainment and fun starting at 7 p.m. Admission is free, and there will be a concession on site.
Donations can still also be made through the Red Cross at http://www.donate.RedCross.ca; Ukraine Crisis Relief Fund at www.globalgiving.org; or Unicef Canada at secure.unicef.ca/ukraine or by cheque or money order payable to ‘Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Sts. Peter & Paul – Athabasca' and mail to: Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Sts. Peter & Paul – Athabasca, 4302-50 Ave. Athabasca, AB, T9S 1P6.
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