I have decided to write a post about something that is becoming more and more important to me as I get older and more appreciative of life.
I asked my girl what the words "responsible consumerism" meant to her. She said "I don't know what that means." So I told her. At least I told her what it means to me.
To me this means we are responsible for what we consume. I have touched on my beliefs before with responsible donating, and this is one step further.
I saw a post on Facebook and I have no idea if it was true or not but it is what got me thinking about this. The post was a picture of a rancher carrying a calf through a snow storm. The caption was something about PETA, that when the snow storm hit North Dakota the ranchers put out a plea to PETA to ask for help saving their cattle from the storm and no one from PETA showed up.
Again I will emphasize that I have no idea if this is true but it got me thinking.
I wonder if the girls who stand naked on the street corners promoting PETA, trying to guilt people into not eating meat or any animal product, would come out to a ranch and chase cattle.
I eat beef. I eat pork. Actually judging from the size of my butt, there isn't much food I don't like.
I grew up on a ranch. I understand how the process works. I don't believe that my parents are not ethical people because they raise beef. I was raised to be honest, faithful and hard working. I was raised around animals. My family farmed pigs at first. When I was a little (and I mean little) girl, my dad would go out to the barn first. He would clean the first piglet pen. My mom and I would go out a few minutes after. They would put me in the clean pen with the piglets and mom and dad would do chores. There are pictures of me curled up with a piglet sleeping in the clean straw.
We processed our own pork in those days. My dad ground the pork by hand. We kids would feed the grinder and wrap the meat. We ate well. We worked as a family.
My mom and dad decided to go into cattle in the '80's. I grew up feeding, treating and chasing cattle. We helped with every step of the process. That's where developed my crush on CKRM that I still haven't grown out of. I learned that Mother Nature has an amazing ability to feed, clothe and nurture us all.
So here is my point. Eating farm raised meat from a responsible farmer is not a bad thing.
If you as a consumer, are responsible for your choices, choose wisely. You vote with your dollars. If you want your beef to be raised by a good farmer, buy it from a good farmer. If you want organic eggs, look for a person that sells organic farm eggs. Buy local. If you research your product and choose to be a consumer of a product that you support, that is responsible consumerism.
Buying local and supporting local are different things. If you want your local grocery store to be there on a Sunday when you need milk, don't complain about the price of milk. They charge what they have to to make money. They aren't Costco with a thousand people walking through the door everyday. They also aren't a charity. They go to work everyday to make a living. I have lived in a small town all my life. I have owned a business in a small town. I scraped out a living for my family. I didn't get rich. I went to work everyday and appreciated the local support I got from my community everyday.
Ethical people grow food to feed the world. It is a noble profession that I am honored to say I was part of once. I choose to eat locally grown beef and eggs. I am grateful for the milk I can by in the town where I live, even if it is a dollar more a carton. I shop in local stores when I can and support the people I know whenever I can. I try to practice what I preach. I stand for responsible consumerism today.
"You've got to stand for something or you'll fall for anything." Aaron Tippen.
Have a great week everyone! Thanks for the reads!
Sunday, 21 April 2013
Tuesday, 16 April 2013
Action for Change!
"Its a great life if you don't weaken"
I don't know who said it, feel free to let me know if you do. I know my Grandma White said it all the time.
"If wishes were horses beggars would ride"
That's another one my Grandma would say over the years. It wasn't until I was a grown up that I truly understood what she meant. Now I see. It is a great life if you can make it through each day at least mostly intact. And then if you can get up the next day and do it again, it's a great life. It truly is great.
Sometimes just before the FFOH auction we get tired. We get tired and over whelmed. We love getting the auction ready. We love hosting the auction. We clean up. We don't love that but we do it. In the early years this morning after was the best part of the auction. When it was still at the bar, we would have coffee and eat some left over fruit and go over the best parts of the night. Then we would clean up. Now we bring coffee and visit for a bit but really, its not quite the same. That's just me being nostalgic.
And right after that weekend we are weaker than at any point in the year. We are tired and weak. And then we get a couple of good nights sleep and then it comes back. Our resolve, our determination, our strength. And its a great life.
We make wishes everyday. We wish cancer didn't happen. We wish families were not struck by the devastation that follows. We wish we had millions of dollars and didn't have to pound the pavement and fund raise constantly. We wish we didn't have to do what we do. Quite frankly, I wish there was no need for FFOH. But there is. We will not ride. We will not stand by and make idle wishes. We will do what we can to help the situation.
Don't let anyone tell you not to try and change any situation that you are in if you are not happy with it. You can. You can change your world. Maybe not the whole world but your world. Once upon a time, women couldn't vote. We couldn't work. We were not allowed to divorce our abusive spouses. Someone set about to change their world and ended up changing it all.
Whatever change that you would like to see in the world, do all you can to achieve it. If you would like to help people with cancer, do it. If you want to help with cancer research, do it. If you want to support stopping climate change, do it. But please do something.
Don't be a beggar riding through a mediocre life on hollow wishes. Join the fight. Join the people that are making a difference. Do not pay lip service. Put your time, your muscle and your thought behind it and act with purpose. We do not have to live in a world we are not happy with. We can change it.
If you would like to help with Forever Friends, let me know. We would love to have you. If not us then call someone. Join a movement for a better world. We really can do it together.
I don't know who said it, feel free to let me know if you do. I know my Grandma White said it all the time.
"If wishes were horses beggars would ride"
That's another one my Grandma would say over the years. It wasn't until I was a grown up that I truly understood what she meant. Now I see. It is a great life if you can make it through each day at least mostly intact. And then if you can get up the next day and do it again, it's a great life. It truly is great.
Sometimes just before the FFOH auction we get tired. We get tired and over whelmed. We love getting the auction ready. We love hosting the auction. We clean up. We don't love that but we do it. In the early years this morning after was the best part of the auction. When it was still at the bar, we would have coffee and eat some left over fruit and go over the best parts of the night. Then we would clean up. Now we bring coffee and visit for a bit but really, its not quite the same. That's just me being nostalgic.
And right after that weekend we are weaker than at any point in the year. We are tired and weak. And then we get a couple of good nights sleep and then it comes back. Our resolve, our determination, our strength. And its a great life.
We make wishes everyday. We wish cancer didn't happen. We wish families were not struck by the devastation that follows. We wish we had millions of dollars and didn't have to pound the pavement and fund raise constantly. We wish we didn't have to do what we do. Quite frankly, I wish there was no need for FFOH. But there is. We will not ride. We will not stand by and make idle wishes. We will do what we can to help the situation.
Don't let anyone tell you not to try and change any situation that you are in if you are not happy with it. You can. You can change your world. Maybe not the whole world but your world. Once upon a time, women couldn't vote. We couldn't work. We were not allowed to divorce our abusive spouses. Someone set about to change their world and ended up changing it all.
Whatever change that you would like to see in the world, do all you can to achieve it. If you would like to help people with cancer, do it. If you want to help with cancer research, do it. If you want to support stopping climate change, do it. But please do something.
Don't be a beggar riding through a mediocre life on hollow wishes. Join the fight. Join the people that are making a difference. Do not pay lip service. Put your time, your muscle and your thought behind it and act with purpose. We do not have to live in a world we are not happy with. We can change it.
If you would like to help with Forever Friends, let me know. We would love to have you. If not us then call someone. Join a movement for a better world. We really can do it together.
Wednesday, 27 March 2013
Our Men
One of the very important groups we sometimes forget to thank are our men. I understand that not every man wants to spend a Friday and Saturday night and a Sunday morning in a room full of yelling and screaming women. (And that is just the set up!)
But they do. Year after year our men help with set up, take down, and everything in between. Some stay home with the kids so the wives can be there. Everyone pulls together and plays a role in putting together this great night.
And then we have our volunteers. Thirty men this year wanting to help. We auctioned off 12 of them for 2570 dollars I might add, one sold liquor tickets, four worked the bar, six carried items around, three auctioneers, and four that filled in whenever they were needed, whenever they could. We could not put on this event without the support of the volunteers.
And the long term volunteers especially. Bob Schaeffer and Mike Fries who have been at the auction every year. Troy Douglas who has auctioned for us for ten years. Alyen Arther who has been at most of the auctions, even giving it the old college try to auction for us the very first year. Rick Slaferek who supports us with amazing sponsorship, volunteering and ideas (like auctioning off next years table at the front.) The list simply goes on and on.
A couple of volunteers that happen not to be men, Sue Fricker and Crystal Cook, have also been involved in one way or another for many years. And if I recall correctly, the original auction idea came from Sue.
So you see, we could do none of this on our own. We appreciate each and every volunteer. Thanks to everyone who came out and supported us with blood, sweat and tears this year. We would not want to do any of this without you.
Thanks for reading!
But they do. Year after year our men help with set up, take down, and everything in between. Some stay home with the kids so the wives can be there. Everyone pulls together and plays a role in putting together this great night.
And then we have our volunteers. Thirty men this year wanting to help. We auctioned off 12 of them for 2570 dollars I might add, one sold liquor tickets, four worked the bar, six carried items around, three auctioneers, and four that filled in whenever they were needed, whenever they could. We could not put on this event without the support of the volunteers.
And the long term volunteers especially. Bob Schaeffer and Mike Fries who have been at the auction every year. Troy Douglas who has auctioned for us for ten years. Alyen Arther who has been at most of the auctions, even giving it the old college try to auction for us the very first year. Rick Slaferek who supports us with amazing sponsorship, volunteering and ideas (like auctioning off next years table at the front.) The list simply goes on and on.
A couple of volunteers that happen not to be men, Sue Fricker and Crystal Cook, have also been involved in one way or another for many years. And if I recall correctly, the original auction idea came from Sue.
So you see, we could do none of this on our own. We appreciate each and every volunteer. Thanks to everyone who came out and supported us with blood, sweat and tears this year. We would not want to do any of this without you.
Thanks for reading!
Monday, 25 March 2013
The days after
So it is the days following the auction. I slept like a baby last night. Like a hung over stuffed with left over cheesecake and spinach dip baby.
We raised a record, 25,000 dollars on Saturday night. We are still amazed at how much we raised on our man auction. $2570, just from auctioning off 12 men. Our liquor sales were through the roof. We had a great auction and silent auction.
We are incredibly amazed at the support we have received.
Congratulations to our Diamond Balloon Pop winner! Wanda DeJong won a $500 gift certificate to Fire & Ice in Regina!
Our theme for the night was 1980's we dressed up, tried to remember how to back comb our hair and had a great time. Thanks to the town of Qu'Appelle for hosting the best party of the year once again. Here are some fantastic pictures of our evening.
Some of our items during set up on Friday night.
Before shaving Ryan's head. He raised almost 1500 dollars for us!
After Ryan's head shaving. An amazing example of what our fantastic supporters will do for us!
Our guys got right into the action!
Male waiters and a free massage.
Monday, 18 March 2013
More Blessed!
Words to live by!
If you have ever wondered how to improve your life, try this.
Dr. Phil says "If you don't have what you want, then you better start wanting what you have."
Simply put, enjoy the life you have and quit wanting more.
Forever Friends deals with people every day that would love to have a simple moment of their health back. Young women that will never see their kids next report card let alone walk down the isle.
This doesn't mean you can't have a bad day. Sometimes things happen that really suck.
No softening of the words required, just suck.
Please just try to remember at the end of everyday to be grateful for the first world frustrations that fill our lives. Caught in traffic in your 40,000 dollar car, burned one of the steaks for supper, your healthy kid brought home a B in Math, ask yourself "Really, Seriously..." and be grateful.
The auction is in just a few days. I can't wait. See you all soon!
Friday, 15 March 2013
Sequestered
So here I am, in Humbolt. Not that Humbolt is bad. It seems like a great little town. A&W, IGA, Timmies and more. Everything we need right? I just feel very far away.
It took about 3 1/2 hours to get here because the roads are pretty poor. Luckily though I don't have to move until March 23 now. I don't mind that much, looking at the weather outside. When I am done I will write a test on Saturday and come home right after and then head to the auction. After this week I should be done my learnin' for a while.
The ladies of FFOH are in full swing. Donation items have to be in tomorrow and will be sorted out on Monday night. Items are being dropped off in rapid fire succession. A really cool plant stand from Indian Head Agencies, a purse from Tru-Fit Denture, Inverness Consulting, some awesome pottery, Blairs, Saskmade Market Place, a cool gift basket from The Pink Tree, Thee Lingere Shoppee, Co-op Refineries, Rider jersey, Matt Inglis, the Geis family, and the list goes on and on. As usual, an astounding display from our community. There will be a whirlwind of activity for the whole group this week.
Strange things happen as our group reaches further out. Things like Richie Brothers reaching out to help auctioneer. Our long time auctioneer, Troy Douglas, graciously stepped up and agreed to share the huge job of auctioning off our items. This is the amazing thing. People are coming out to offer to help us. This is truly when our long time supporters shine through. The people who truly care about FFOH are the ones that put themselves aside and recognize the outside help and work with it. You really see the true side of great people in situations like this. So Troy, my hat is off to you yet again. Ten years of amazing support and the graciousness and help extends even further. We cannot thank you enough.
We have great guys to auction off this year. We can't wait to see how the man servents will go this year, or as Troy calls them the man-whores. Again we have had people contacting us to volunteer.
It's all very cool.
And because I am very blessed through my work with FFOH, awesome things happen to me. Recently, this became very apparent. I was very humbled to find out that friends of FFOH, folks that we met through an applicant, Garry and Pam Frigon from Lisa B Originals, have nominated me for a YWCA Woman of Distinction Award in Community Leadership & Enhancement category.
I am very grateful for this nomination. I won't lie, winning would be super cool, but just that fact that people thought enough of me to nominate me, write and collect the letters of support, and stand behind me, takes my breath away.
You all know I am not a real emotional sort but reading all of the letters from people that I thought would hardly even remember me, let alone care enough to write a letter, put a huge lump in my throat. Not to mention the people that I know well that sent in a letter without me knowing a thing.
I will keep you posted on how it works out but for now, know that I can not keep count of my blessings. Thank you all.
It took about 3 1/2 hours to get here because the roads are pretty poor. Luckily though I don't have to move until March 23 now. I don't mind that much, looking at the weather outside. When I am done I will write a test on Saturday and come home right after and then head to the auction. After this week I should be done my learnin' for a while.
The ladies of FFOH are in full swing. Donation items have to be in tomorrow and will be sorted out on Monday night. Items are being dropped off in rapid fire succession. A really cool plant stand from Indian Head Agencies, a purse from Tru-Fit Denture, Inverness Consulting, some awesome pottery, Blairs, Saskmade Market Place, a cool gift basket from The Pink Tree, Thee Lingere Shoppee, Co-op Refineries, Rider jersey, Matt Inglis, the Geis family, and the list goes on and on. As usual, an astounding display from our community. There will be a whirlwind of activity for the whole group this week.
Strange things happen as our group reaches further out. Things like Richie Brothers reaching out to help auctioneer. Our long time auctioneer, Troy Douglas, graciously stepped up and agreed to share the huge job of auctioning off our items. This is the amazing thing. People are coming out to offer to help us. This is truly when our long time supporters shine through. The people who truly care about FFOH are the ones that put themselves aside and recognize the outside help and work with it. You really see the true side of great people in situations like this. So Troy, my hat is off to you yet again. Ten years of amazing support and the graciousness and help extends even further. We cannot thank you enough.
We have great guys to auction off this year. We can't wait to see how the man servents will go this year, or as Troy calls them the man-whores. Again we have had people contacting us to volunteer.
It's all very cool.
And because I am very blessed through my work with FFOH, awesome things happen to me. Recently, this became very apparent. I was very humbled to find out that friends of FFOH, folks that we met through an applicant, Garry and Pam Frigon from Lisa B Originals, have nominated me for a YWCA Woman of Distinction Award in Community Leadership & Enhancement category.
I am very grateful for this nomination. I won't lie, winning would be super cool, but just that fact that people thought enough of me to nominate me, write and collect the letters of support, and stand behind me, takes my breath away.
You all know I am not a real emotional sort but reading all of the letters from people that I thought would hardly even remember me, let alone care enough to write a letter, put a huge lump in my throat. Not to mention the people that I know well that sent in a letter without me knowing a thing.
I will keep you posted on how it works out but for now, know that I can not keep count of my blessings. Thank you all.
Sunday, 3 March 2013
Coming together
Well the auction seems to be coming together in the traditional awesome way.
We tried a new system for ticket sales that went over very well. We had a line up outside the 50+ Club starting at 9:30. That was amazing to see. Our first sale was for 20 tickets. The Pay Pal account worked very well. I was very nervous about how that would all work together. But it went very smoothly. We found a new system that really worked for us.
We sold 131 tickets in the first 15 minutes. At the end of the four hours we only had 29 tickets left. We are down a few more tickets now. I think we only have 19 left. I am very happy that we are almost completely done. It was very easy to get the tickets sold, letters addressed and mailed out in the same few hours. So much simpler.
Items are rolling in. We have some amazing things coming in. We are grateful for the generosity of people every day. And as if a reminder of what we do, we have an application waiting for a woman who had exhausted her EI disability and is still taking chemo and radiation. She will need thousands to keep food on the table until she can return to work in the summer time. IF she can return to work.
And there but by the grace of God, go I.
We tried a new system for ticket sales that went over very well. We had a line up outside the 50+ Club starting at 9:30. That was amazing to see. Our first sale was for 20 tickets. The Pay Pal account worked very well. I was very nervous about how that would all work together. But it went very smoothly. We found a new system that really worked for us.
We sold 131 tickets in the first 15 minutes. At the end of the four hours we only had 29 tickets left. We are down a few more tickets now. I think we only have 19 left. I am very happy that we are almost completely done. It was very easy to get the tickets sold, letters addressed and mailed out in the same few hours. So much simpler.
Items are rolling in. We have some amazing things coming in. We are grateful for the generosity of people every day. And as if a reminder of what we do, we have an application waiting for a woman who had exhausted her EI disability and is still taking chemo and radiation. She will need thousands to keep food on the table until she can return to work in the summer time. IF she can return to work.
And there but by the grace of God, go I.
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