Pleins Rayons is holding its annual fundraiser on Saturday, May 7 after a hiatus over the last couple of years due to the pandemic.

The non-profit organization helps young adults living with an intellectual disability and/or autism spectrum disorder in the Brome-Missisquoi and Haute-Yamaska regions. All profits from the fundraiser will support the projects and mission of the organization. Pleins Rayons, founded in late 2015, organizes various projects throughout the year to help their apprentices gain the social and vocational skills they need to enter the workforce and feel like they are a part of their community. 

“It’s a place for them to come and have an active social role, to live success via developing skills, to become a good citizen. Once you feel like a good citizen, you can get a job. This is what it’s all about,” explained Stephan Marcoux, co-founder of Pleins Rayons. “We have 18 various social-economy projects that we do. Throughout these projects, they develop very pertinent social-vocational skills. Once they’re ready, we find them a job.”

Marcoux said that in the past six years, Pleins Rayons helped place over 75 individuals in the workforce. 

“We’re doing something pretty good,” he said. 

At the fundraiser, apprentices will be on site to show off their projects and make connections with the community. 

“We are going to have our annual bike sale of refurbished bikes that we worked on throughout the year. There are some nice models and some cheaper models, there is a little bit of something for everyone. (....) We are also going to be selling our plants,” said Marcoux. “We do tomato plants, cucumbers, and a variety of things that we sell every year. We’re also going to have our bird houses, which are very popular, and a variety of beautiful woodworking projects that we do throughout the year also.”

All proceeds from the fundraiser will go towards supporting the operations of Pleins Rayons. 

“We have an annual budget of $469,000 to operate Pleins Rayons every year. It’s very difficult to make ends meet. So, anything little thing helps to raise the money to survive this budget. There are beautiful outcomes coming out of this project, but the funding is always an issue,” emphasized Marcoux. 

Apart from the fundraiser, there are also some new projects coming up for Pleins Rayons this year. 

“Someone in Dunham lent us land so we will be growing fields of garlic this year. So, we will have a garlic sale at some point in July or August. Also this year, we made beehives out of recycled wood. We are going to have two colonies and we are going to be producing honey,” said Marcoux. “(...) It’s something really new and I’m pretty sure there are very few places in the world that work with individuals living with an intellectual disability or autism that get to do this type of project. It’s creative, it’s awesome, and we are really pleased to do this project.”

Pleins Rayons’ annual fundraiser will be taking place on Saturday, May 7 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. at its parking lot located at 790 Rue du S, Cowansville.

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