GREENFIELD — Good food and good causes came together recently during the Greenfield Rotary’s annual Steak’n Bake’n Raffle.
The fundraiser dinner, which is one of the club’s biggest annual fundraisers, netted some $100,000 for local nonprofit organizations, which also competed to receive additional grants from the organization.
The 10 finalists were selected in early September and began raising money toward their final balance for the evening of the event, reaching out to donors and volunteers alike in an effort to be among the top five money-raisers, who received an additional $5,900 grant from the Rotary club, said event co-chair Stacey Wixson.
Last year’s event raised some $94,000, providing a grant of $5,200 to each of the top five organizations in addition to the funds they raised on their own, according to a story in the Daily Reporter. The Steak’n Bake’n Raffle has provided nearly $245,000 for area nonprofit organizations since its inception, said past organizer Dave Anders.
The top five fund-raisers at this year’s event, held Saturday, were Hancock Hope House homeless shelter and thrift store; the Hancock County Food Pantry; Families United for Support and Encouragement, an organization that connects families with children with disabilities to each other and to needed services; the Landing Place, which serves Hancock County youth and adults and provides resources to encourage better life choices in recovery; and Nameless Creek Youth Camp, a 12.7-acre facility in southeastern Hancock County that hosts youth camps, family reunions and Boy Scout and Girl Scout troops.
The Hope House was the top fundraiser at the weekend event, raising a total of about $22,000, Wixson said.
Hope House executive director Andrea Mallory said she and other officials sent out fliers and mailers, advertised in the thrift store, and worked to have one-on-one conversations about the shelter’s mission of providing transitional housing to families facing homelessness in Hancock, Rush, Shelby and Henry counties.
Mallory said the annual fundraiser is an admirable effort that smaller county nonprofits count on to support their missions.
After taking a break from being in the running last year, Mallory was ready to see the homeless shelter be the top earner.
“I told my staff, ‘I don’t want to be top 5, I want to be No. 1,” she said.
Tom Ferguson, president of the Hancock County Food Pantry, said the Steak’n Bake’n Raffle is a great community asset and a blessing to the recipients.
The food pantry raised some $8,690 by reaching out to its volunteer and donor base, he said.
“It’s a fun event, but more importantly, it provides some resources for local nonprofits,” he said.
In addition to a steak and baked potato dinner, the evening featured live music from Ripple Effect, a $2,000 50/50 raffle, and a heads or tails game that awarded the winner a 49-inch TV set, Wixson said.
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The top five competitors at the annual Steak’n Bake’n Raffle received about $5,900 in grants from the Greenfield Rotary Club.
The recipients were:
Hope House
Hancock County Food Pantry
Families United in Support and Encouragement
The Landing Place
Nameless Creek Youth Camp
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