OUNGRE - A supper and an auction held at the Oungre Memorial Regional Park Hall Saturday attracted many people and raised funds for the family of Abraham Neufeld, who died in a blizzard that struck the southeast on Jan. 31.
David Pattyson, who helped organize the event, said they had about 150 people coming through the doors and were able to raise about $35,000.
"We had a very successful fundraiser, and a really good crowd came into the park, which was quite nice for the family to see," Pattyson said. "Everybody is grappling with the tragedy of life cut short. But the community is quite resilient and getting together for fundraisers such as this one is also part of the healing process for the community."
He added that the majority of the crowd was local people living within about 50 kilometres of Tribune. But there were also many people that came from further places, like Ponteix, the Carnduff area, Manitoba and Alberta.
The event was put together quickly, but Pattyson said that it went smoothly.
"Everything went pretty well according to plan. With an event like that, there are always a few decisions that you need to make on the fly. But overall, it went very well," Pattyson said.
The gathering started with a silent auction with much merchandise provided by local businesses and individuals. It was followed by a supper prepared and served by community members and then a live auction.
"We had a large amount of merchandise that was donated from local merchants in the Weyburn and Estevan area," Pattyson said. "The feature item was a Ford 3600 tractor that was completely restored by Abe before he passed."
The tractor was sold for $5,000. Other items also saw interest, and the fundraiser turned out to be a success.
"It was pretty active time to get it all put together … But there was a very good team to work with, helping to organize it and also with the merchants … we were getting them up at short notice and everybody stepped up to the plate and was quite generous. With that I strongly encourage local people to try and support their local businesses because it's times like this, that you realize that the local businesses are the ones that will really come to help the community," Pattyson said.
"We'd like to really reiterate that we really appreciate the support from both the local community and the businesses in the area and (to encourage) people to really support those businesses because I know that they've had a difficult time in the last couple of years as well."
Money raised will help the immediate financial needs of Neufeld's wife Susana, daughter Trudy and son Benny. If someone wants to support them, cheques can still be mailed out to Susana Neufeld. Donations can also be made through the Radius Credit Union Tribune branch, or people can contact Pattyson to make an e-transfer to support the family.
Neufeld, 39, went missing on Jan. 31 during the powerful blizzard that hit the southeast. The tractor he was driving reportedly became stuck, and he became disoriented after trying to walk to his residence near Tribune. He was found deceased two days later near Bromhead, following an extensive search.
