The Grunthal and Area Lions Club is firing up the grill every Thursday, with all proceeds going to the Caring Hands Food Bank.
Doug Wiens with the Lions Club says they have recently expanded their reach.
“We cover communities, Kleefeld, St. Malo, Grunthal. We've helped people Vita, Sprague and since Steinbach has folded, we've helped people in Steinbach.”
Wiens says the Lions Club works to help people in many different ways.
“We're a group of like-minded individuals who want to make our communities better places to live in. Our motto is ‘We Serve,' and that that covers an awful lot of things. I mean, we cover hunger, diabetes, vision, childhood cancer, we also have programs like the DARE program that's run by Rotary. We've never tried to get it implemented here, because why compete with the program that's working here.”
This year, the club has grown from nine to 15 members.
“We had a 66 per cent increase,” Wiens laughs.
The idea for the BBQ was inspired by other community events like the KPMG Taste of Summer Charity BBQ in Steinbach and the Petro-Canada BBQ on Fridays.
“Every Thursday in partnership with the great people at Grunthal Grocery, we barbeque hot dogs in front of Grunthal Grocery. We sell those dogs for $5. It gets you a dog and a water, and all the proceeds go to the Caring Hands Food Bank.”
With the need in the community continuing to grow, Wiens says supporting the food bank is more important than ever. The club also runs a community garden to help.
“We grow six pounds of sweet corn, which once it's ready, will be picked. The people at Caring Hands Food Bank get to have some fresh corn and the remainder will get sold with that money going to the food bank. Last year we raised $5,400 from the sale of sweet corn.”
The Grunthal and Area Lions Club BBQ runs every Thursday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in front of Grunthal Grocery.
To keep up with their latest initiatives, follow the Grunthal and Area Lions Club on Facebook.
With files from Corny Rempel