The first of five Great Plains Taste of Summer Charity Barbecues today saw a great turnout at Memorial Park, with $769 raised from the lunch, going to Inclusion Weyburn.
"It was just so nice to see the long lineup of people after the parade," commented Jackie Wilson, president of Inclusion Weyburn. "So many good supporters came and had a hot dog and so many great servers taking care of everybody. It was wonderful and it was good for inclusion, for us to see people and visit with them, and the funding is going to be just a great, great thing."
Wilson said most of the funding they receive goes to their summer camps.
"We hire one-on-one staff for the children with disabilities who come to camp. They each get one person to themselves, who takes care of them. That's what makes it possible for those kids to be at camp. So the summer salaries are what takes up a huge part of our budget."
She said they also supply each camp with a sensory room with special equipment to help with self-regulation.
"It's really important for our kids to have equipment that helps them just to feel calm and relaxed. They tend to run on high anxiety, a lot of them. So this is great that they have, right at the camp, places to go to self-regulate, and it just takes them through the day and home feeling a lot calmer too. And the kids love the camps. It's just been such a wonderful thing."
While fundraising is important for a not-for-profit organization like Inclusion Weyburn, Wilson said these kinds of events also celebrate community.
"Weyburn is such a good community and part of it, I think, is because of our size. We're not so huge that we totally don't know each other. We do get together and support these kinds of events and we always see someone we know or meet someone new and it's a good connecting thing for a community."
During the event, the organization also received a $300 donation from Jerry Mainil Ltd.
Wilson said the turnout demonstrates a good, supportive community.
"With inclusion, people have been so supportive. They're wanting to learn more about the disabilities and people who have these disabilities and how they can help. And that's just wonderful."
"I'd like to say thank you to everybody who came and supported us and enjoyed a hot dog and I'd like to really thank the group that put this on, the barbecue, Great Plains, and the radio stations, and there are other people that are involved in this. There are so many. They're putting on five barbecues and I surely hope that they all go as well as this one did. They're supporting lots of communities or community organizations and that's wonderful."
Discover Weyburn, Magic 103, Country 106.7, AM1190, and the City of Weyburn will host our next Great Plains Taste of Summer Charity Barbecue on July 17th at Memorial Park, to benefit the Weyburn Legion. Once again, $3 will get you a hot dog, chips, and a drink.
