Joy Neufeld with Soup's On recently won $8,000 as a finalist in a national campaign put on by Timber Mart. 

Joel Hartung, President of The LumberZone in Steinbach, entered Neufeld’s name in the contest. 

The first time Neufeld heard that she was entered in the contest was when she won the Western Canada title. 

“He (Joel) told me I had won Western Canada, and now I was one of the four finalists for the national contest.” 

She says being in the contest was an amazing experience. 

“It was fun, it got Soup's On out there, and I may not have won the additional $10,000 but I won in many other ways.” 

Many people came forward, congratulated her, and let her know she had their vote. 

“I had a friend from B.C. who I hadn't talked to for years send me an e-mail and said ‘I heard about the contest, congratulations, we're voting for you out here.’ It was just amazing.” 

Neufeld says all the support she received was overwhelming. 

“I already know the community is behind this project, is behind the school lunch program, but that came through in a much bigger and more profound way. It was just all very humbling and rewarding knowing I have the support that I have. We'll keep on trucking and we know the community is there.” 

The $8000 she won will be going to the Soup’s On school lunch program, Neufeld says this will be amazing in helping them help families. 

“It means we can continue and expand, not turn families away because we feel like we've reached our max, It means that we can feed children,” she says. “And I keep saying, ‘what's more important than feeding our kids?’ And feeding them during the school day so they can learn, so they can concentrate, so they can get along with their peers. It gives them a fair kick at life, and maybe, just maybe, they will graduate and dig their way out of this poverty hole that they seem to be in. It's just the best thing in the world I can do.” 

She’s extremely thankful to everyone who voted for her. 

“The response... the people that touched me, that voted for me every 24 hours and they didn't miss. And if they had two e-mail addresses, they voted for me twice every 24 hours. My most sincere thanks to absolutely everybody, it was just an amazing experience.” 

She thanks Hartung for putting her name in the contest. 

“I wouldn't have been able to do any of this without Joel and the LumberZone team, I’m just so grateful to him. It was quite something.” 

Below are the final vote totals:

Karen Watson – 6478 Votes

Joy Neufeld – 4411 Votes

Frank King – 1469

Pierre Cote – 641

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