Sanpete Pantry’s fourth fund raising gala attracts more than 200 people and raises over $40,000
By Suzanne Dean
FAIRVIEW—While the Sanpete Pantry is still doing a final accounting, its gala last Friday, Oct. 2 at the Fairview Dance Hall netted an estimated $40,000, according to pantry fund raising director Marty McCain.
“Right now, there’s a lot of love in this room,” declared Tracy Kummer, executive director of the pantry as she looked out over the audience of 200.
Money was raised from business sponsorships, individual ticket sales, tables of eight purchased by businesses and individuals, a silent auction and a live auction. The live auction by itself brought in $10,000.
Kummer opened the event with some anecdotes. She described an incident where Pantry staff and volunteers were wrapping up a mobile food drop in Gunnison when three children walked up pulling a wagon.
“My mom just had a baby, and we need help,” one of the children said. A few minutes later they “went trucking home with a little wagon of food.”
She described the four volunteers who come to the pantry every Wednesday to assemble “kid packs” for children to take home over the weekend. Another volunteer drives the packs to school. Lately, the pantry has also been dropping some packs at library for children who are being home schooled or who, for whatever reason, aren’t in school.
She described hearing stories about children who sleep in closets “because they’re so afraid of what’s going on at home.”
“We reach kids, we don’t know who they are,” she said. “Those packs help kids when they don’t have support at home.”
But the pantry’s assistance isn’t limited to children, McCain told the crowd. Since the first of January, the pantry has served an estimated 374,076 meals. That translates to assisting 5,884 families and 19,841 individuals.
The Oct. 2 event was the pantry’s fourth gala. So McCain recognized businesses that have been silver or gold sponsors, donating from $1,000 to $5,000 all four years.
They included Big Pine Sports, State Bank of Southern Utah, Zions Bank, Pitman Farms, MKJ Construction, Cache Valley Bank, Fortress Clothing, United Healthcare and Deseret Tree Works.
Another major element of the event was presentation of a print, drawn from a painting by Jay Ward, an artist from Salt Lake County, showing a hand reaching for the hand of Jesus.
The art work was commissioned by Culley W. Davis of Bluffdale, who is involved in Book of Mormon Evidence seminars on the Wasatch Front. Davis and McCain met at one of his seminars.
Davis said he originally commissioned the work as a sort of logo for his seminars. But after the late President Russell Nelson of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints selected the painting to illustrate his Thanksgiving message in The Ensign, the art work essentially “went viral.”
A Catholic nun in Canada ended up distributing 5,000 cards with a photo of the art work. Five hundred of the cards were distributed to inmates attending LDS services at the Utah State Correctional Facility.
Davis said full-sized, limited edition copies of the painting have sold for as much as $5,000. Davis donated one gold framed copy of the art work for auction. It sold for $1,000.
Following Davis’s remarks, Braxten Nielson, an auctioneer from Roosevelt, took over and started coaxing up bids for everything from a cheesecake to a two-night stay for eight in a condominium in Kanab. The condominium stay went for $650 and the cheesecake for $90.
Another stand-out item was a painting by Eric Thompson of Fairview, created using a tempera process, an ancient art in which pigments are combined with egg yolk. The method is known for its durability and matte finish. The painting sold for over $1,000.
A 5-ft. Winchester gun safe sold for $850. And a high-powered child’s dirt bike went for $600.
In addition, Jared Livingston, owner of Big Pine Sports and donor of the dirt bike, announced his store will sponsor a raffle for a larger dirt bike. The raffle will begin in a couple of weeks and run through Dec. 15. Tickets can be purchased at the store in Fairview. Proceeds will benefit the pantry.
One family who stood out for the participation in the gala was the Nick Peterson family of Spanish Fork. Nick Peterson is the owner of Deseret Tree Works, which does a lot of work in Sanpete County. His company is a four-time major sponsor.
A daughter, Tedi, made a chocolate-peanut butter pie that sold for $90. Nick Peterson’s wife, Alisha, and daughters Lola, Tedi and Chanel, all took part in knitting a quilt that sold for $350.