The Potton Valley Church in Mansonville is organizing a fundraiser to support the Red Cross’ relief efforts in the Ukraine for Saturday, April 9 from 12 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
The Church is asking for a minimum donation of $10 for poutine, $15 for poutine, and $20 for méchoui dinner all prepared by Jason and Lynn Bedard.
Anne Stairs, member of the Potton Valley Church, said that most people are living with a sense of helplessness as they watch events unfold in the Ukraine. After taking notice of what the Red Cross was doing on the ground to provide relief, she put forward the idea to support the group’s efforts.
“We kept seeing them on news bits so we thought well, let’s do a fundraiser,” said Stairs. “And we are lucky that in our congregation we have a family that does méchoui all the time and they are well known in the area so it wasn’t super hard for us to organize.”
Having lived in the Eastern Townships for many years, Stairs mentioned that there is a large Ukrainian and Polish population in the region and that the war in the Ukraine is a global cause.
“Apart from that, you know, we’ve all been impacted by the pandemic and fighting that and it just seemed unbelievable that a real war would break out,” she said. “I think we just all feel for the issues of freedom, democracy, and safety that these people are experiencing and we just wanted to do something.”
The Potton Valley Church hopes to raise a good amount of funds to support immigrants who may have crossed the border and citizens who remain in the Ukraine.
“If you look at a city like Mariupol, it’s being so bombed out they have no food, they have no services, they have no medical care, so we’re hoping that it can provide relief in any of these situations,” explained Stairs.
The church is prepared to serve 500 meals for the event.
“The church is covering the costs of all the food so anything that is ticket sales and any donations on top of that will go directly to the Red Cross,” noted Stairs. “We are going to have a representative from the Red Cross there that evening and we will just count the money, write a cheque, and again they will take the money immediately.”
The fundraiser will be a take-out style event. Tickets can be purchased at the door and those with mobility issues can be served at their car.
Those that lack transportation for the event can reach out to the Potton Valley Church at pottonvalleychurch.com/contact-us/ to make an arrangement.
Please note that tax receipts will not be issued if donating directly to the event. Those that wish to have a tax receipt can donate directly to the Red Cross online.
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