Community members came out to help the Broken Arrow Youth Ranch over the weekend, as a fundraising supper event was held in Estevan. Over 150 people attended the event, with the final amount raised still being figured out.
The ranch takes in children under 18 for up to one year, giving them time to take part in ranchwork and better find themselves.
Todd Moroz, CEO of Broken Arrow Youth Ranch, was very grateful for all of the support they received.
"It's amazing to see all these faces in there, and just wonderful, generous people. Like I said at the event, we're just one big family helping other families heal and grow, and it's a huge family that we're so grateful for."
Some of the donors who also help out include monthly donors and even farms that plant crops to support Broken Arrow Youth Ranch.
The event was more than just a supper, with music from the Daae Family, including Daniel and Lauren Daae and their children, along with a speech by former professional hockey player Brad Cole. During the event, he spoke about losing his sense of self due to terrible influences and how he found himself again with mentorship and turning to religion.
Cole says that the Broken Arrow Youth Ranch sets kids up with leaders who can be crucial, citing his own experience.
"I think whatever you're going through, whether it's business or marriage, whatever it is, I think that's so key to have people who have walked ahead of you. For me, spiritually, I've always looked to have a mentor who would invest in my life, and it's allowed me to be where I am today."
Cole says that he had to make changes in order to follow that example and improve his life.
"Hockey is the most beautiful sport in the world, but there are also bad things that go along with it, just like any sport. But I knew when I was 24, I had to change my life, and so for me, that happened with the relationship with Jesus, and it totally changed the trajectory of my life. I'm forever grateful for that."
Cole says he's happy to see so much support from the southeast community.
Helping youth find their way in life is key to what the Broken Arrow Youth Ranch sets out to achieve, according to Moroz.
"Brad described how they're a family and they're pouring into their kids' lives, training them up in the way they should go, so to speak. That's so much of what [the charity] is. We've got this extended community around us that every student who comes realizes there are grandmas and grandpas, aunties and people's cousins, who are all loving on us and supporting us, and that we don't walk through this life alone, and that's huge."
The fundraiser featured a 50/50 draw, which was won by Gerry Kuglin, taking home $3,990. As part of the event, Broken Arrow Youth Ranch also raffled off two pot-bellied pigs, which made it to Allen Nelson's farm.
Moroz thanked the southeast for all of the work that's been put into the work for the weekend's fundraiser and all the other events over the years to support the ranch.