HANCOCK COUNTY — Yet another popular local fundraiser has been canceled this year due to coronavirus concerns.
The third annual Boots & Bourbon event, which last year netted $20,000 for Meals on Wheels of Hancock County, has been called off.
Originally scheduled for April 18, it was rescheduled to Aug. 29 before board members opted last week to cancel the event.
The bourbon, spirits and wine tasting event is the biggest fundraiser of the year for the local Meals on Wheels program, whose food-delivery demands have doubled since the pandemic settled in five months ago.
“We were averaging about a thousand meals delivered in a month, and we’re now doing about 2,000 meals a month,” said Lynda Kosh, executive director of Meals on Wheels.
Kosh said that because of COVID-19, the agency’s client base has grown by 58%.
To keep up with the cost of demand, Kosh has spent extra time writing grants seeking funds to support the organization.
“Because of the increased needs we’re currently having and due to the income lost by canceling our Boots & Bourbon event, we are looking for additional funds to enable us to take care of these new clients,” she said.
“We want to continue helping as many people as we can, because we know this (pandemic) is not going to change anytime soon.”
Given the fact so many other local fundraisers have been canceled in recent weeks and months, Kosh said it probably wasn’t surprising that Boots & Bourbon would follow suit. The board was looking forward to having a fun event, where guests would have the chance to taste more than 100 kinds of wines and spirits at For-Lou Farms in Greenfield.
“We were ready to roll. We had already sold almost all of our VIP tickets, and were ready to finish doing all of our marketing so that we’d have a sold-out event,” Kosh said.
“Now we’re having to either give people a refund, asking them to make the money they paid a donation, or allowing them to use it as a credit towards a future event with us,” she said.
Kosh said board members may consider some sort of virtual fundraising option later this year, but for now they have their sights set on the next Boots & Bourbon event to be held in April.
Meals and Wheels has a bingo event scheduled for September, which may potentially be canceled or switched to a virtual format, said Kosh.
“For now we’re just seeing what others are doing and what options are out there. First and foremost, we’ll continue to do our best to serve our clients,” she said.
Donations and volunteers are always needed, especially now to meet the growing demand, Kosh said.
For information, call 317-477-4345 or visit mealsonwheelsonline.org.
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Meals on Wheels of Hancock County is seeking donations to address the growing demand for its services. More information is available by callling 317-477-4345 or by visit www.mealsonwheelsonline.org.
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