Helping Hands barbecue draws a crowd

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Published on Thursday, July 14, 2016

Photo by Tony Eu. The Helping Hands girls (L-R: Rylee Mann, Cecilie Holm, Claire Tomoniko, Abigail Plett, Richelle Forgue) along with a volunteer and resident of Country Meadows (Paul Molloy).

By Tony Eu

Neepawa Banner/Neepawa Press

With good weather and a great turnout, the second annual Helping Hands fundraising barbecue was a fantastic success. Formerly the 4-H Helping Hands, the Helping Hands group held a barbecue in the Neepawa ShopEasy Foods parking lot on Friday, July 8 to raise money for the Country Meadows Handy-van trips. The core members of the group are Abigail Plett, Cecilie Holm, Claire Tomoniko, Richelle Forgue and Rylee Mann, not all of whom are involved with 4-H, thus the name change. 

As well as the five young ladies who make up the group, many others volunteered. Rick and Marj Sanford, Sylvie Tomoniko, Ashlee Plett, Marsha Forgue, Trish Boersma and Zoie Forgue all helped the girls to run the barbecue, raffle ticket sales and the candy guessing competition. 

“It was a lot of fun,” the girls said. But it was more than just fun. This year, they raised $1,425.85, almost $400 more than last year. The money raised will go a long way to offset the cost of the handy-van trips, which cost Country Meadows $4,400 last year.

This event would never have been as successful without all the strong support shown by the community. As well as all the individuals who turned up to support the event, a number of local businesses contributed and assisted with the barbecue and raffle.