Candlelighters Childhood Cancer Support Group (CCCSG) Board Chair Naomi Fehr is pleased with the support received from donors for the summer raffle. The winner of the Grand Prize will win a truck.
"It's a pretty big deal to us because, in the world of charities, I guess we're kind of really small. And so, when someone came up to us and donated a 1967 Ford F-100, we were pretty shocked and humbled, very humbled, that somebody believes in us so much they would be willing to make such a big donation."
Fehr explained how the money raised by the charity is used to support families in various stages of childhood cancer.
"We are a support group for Manitoba families who have kids with cancer. We have, I guess, about 55 to 60 families per year diagnosed (with childhood cancer). We try to support them in many different ways. We send a care package to all newly diagnosed families, we send hot meals up once a week to the Children's Cancer ward, we help pay for funerals, we pay for parking passes, we give grads Survivor Scholarships, just things like that to help people out a little that are that are going through the same kind of struggles all of our board members have gone through."
Seven volunteer board members serve on the CCCSG board, each one with their own experience with childhood cancer.
Fehr went on to describe the truck a bit more.
"It's a pretty big deal. First prize is a 1967 Ford F-100. It’s in showroom condition, it's safetied, its assessed value is about $52,800. It can be seen right now at Hometown Ford in Winkler. We are going to have it there until the Harvest Festival and after that, it'll be in the parade and in the car show, as well. A $25 ticket and somebody's going to win a truck. Pretty exciting. We can't wait for the draw because it's going to be such a big deal. It's such a big deal to our charity. It means a lot. We come from very humble beginnings. We're a very small charity. We're all volunteers. So, something like this is just a huge deal to us."
(This video was submitted to Pembina Valley Online by Candlelighters Childhood Cancer Support Group. Video footage was taken by Clayton Reimer and produced anonymously.)
Second prize in the raffle is a weekend getaway for up to 8 people, third prize is a Traeger Smoker, fourth prize is a Milwaukee trimmer and blower set and fifth prize is a night stay at the Best Western in Morden and a gift card to VB's entertainment.
Fehr shared the impact the money raised through the raffle will make, starting with the care package for each newly diagnosed family.
"What we've done is we have a blanket; it has the word 'Hope' embroidered on it and the O is a childhood cancer ribbon. We give this to families as well as a $500 gas card or grocery card, just to kind of help them out, and to let them know they're not alone, for them to know that there is hope. You know, you hear the words, 'Your child has cancer,' and you think, 'that's it.' Because it's a horrible word. It's a horrible disease. But our cure rates are higher than they've been in a long time, and we just want families to know there is hope. And so, that's why we incorporated the blanket for each newly diagnosed family."
Events such as movies nights, Tinkertown Day and Family Camp weekend are times families can get together and find support within the childhood cancer community. This is the first year Family Camp will be held in the Pembina Valley in September.
Fehr is grateful for the generous support CCCSG has received from the Pembina Valley to help them out.
Click here for a full list of locations and ways to buy a raffle ticket. The draw will be made September 30th.
With files from Ronny Guenther
In response to Canada's Online News Act and Meta (Facebook and Instagram) removing access to local news from their platforms, PembinaValleyOnline encourages you to get your news directly from your trusted source by bookmarking this page and downloading the PembinaValleyOnline app.