A local resident shaved his head and beard last weekend, at a fundraiser for Steinbach’s soon-to-be-built Homeless Shelter.
Leona Doerksen, founder and board chair of “The Inn” says that while they are waiting for approval of their charitable status, Steinbach and area residents keep making donations.
Doerksen says this past Sunday evening, Gospel Fellowship Church in Steinbach, hosted a fun-fundraiser.
“They raised almost $7200 for our seed-fund for The Inn.”
She continues. “So, they did an in-house auction at the church, and a homemade soup and homemade bun and dessert lunch, which was just amazing, and it was so fun.”
Doerksen says the highlight for her was watching a beard and hair shaving event.
"A guy (John Schmidt) had been growing his beard for three years and he said that if people would chip in and donate $750 (to The Inn) he would shave off his beard and shave his head, and they did it!”
John Schmidt (left) before getting his beard cut and head shaved (photo submitted)Meanwhile, Lana Penner from the church tells us why they hosted the evening.
“We are just looking mostly for community projects and ways that we can get to know Steinbach better as a congregation and as a church, and this (The Inn) was one of the things that came to our attention, and we thought it was a good thing to support. So, we looked for ways that we could do that, that would make sense for our church.”
Penner notes that their goal was to bring people together, have fun and raise funds for “The Inn.” She adds that their church group gathered donations from local businesses and other members of the community and filled several tables Sunday night with silent auction items.
"Then day of, we spent about two hours as a community just having such a fun time. We had lunch. We had someone willing to have their beard shaved off, if we hit a certain level of donations, and that did happen. That was very exciting. And we have some door prizes as well. And overall, yeah, people just came out with their generosity; with their enthusiasm; there were a lot of laughs, and we raised a good deal of money too.”
Penner says, seeing the success of the evening by the response from those at the event and then raising over $7,000 for “The Inn” was very meaningful.
“I mean, it would have been meaningful anyway to just see that in our community, but to know that we've been able to play a part in making this happen, it's just so special.”
Leona Doerksen (far right) with guests at The Inn fundraiser Sunday evening (photo submitted) Doerksen is grateful for the support from Gospel Fellowship Church and notes that “The Inn” is still in the process of waiting on their charitable status and she and their board is well aware of the “sharp increase in people accessing supports in the southeast”. Noting, “even the working poor are having to go to food banks like we've been hearing on the radio, and so I just thought, you know, people might wonder what's happening with “The Inn”.
Doerksen gives us an update. “It's progressing along wonderfully. We've got a great board that is just so diligent and compassionate. And we hope to have our website up soon, which will provide people with more information. We’re also going to have an information booth at Summer in the City after Worship in the City on Sunday.”
Doerksen is excited to announce that the offering from Worship in the City this year will be going to “The Inn”.
Fri, Jun 28, 1:00 PM
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