The Big Country Shrine Club’s Prime Rib and King Crab Dinner Auction raised $40,000 this year.
Held on Saturday, April 6 at the 100 Mile Community Hall the sold-out event attracted diners from across the Cariboo who came ready to spend bi g. Glen Clancy, president of the Big Country Shrine Club, said the tone was set early when two tables ended up paying $1,600 each for the chance to dine first and second.
“The atmosphere right off the bat was just super, people were all excited (to eat) and looking at all the donations,” Clancy said. “I could not believe the amount of money we got from the first table to sit and eat.”
The meal was catered by the Red Rock Grill with Clancy’s son James Clancy, the restaurant’s owner, cooking hundreds of king crab legs for the attendees.
Assisting the Big Country Shriners and their wives were several volunteers including Shriners of the B.C. and Yukon potentate Ron Erickson, several Shriners from other clubs, Mayor Maureen Pinkney and Cariboo-Chilcotin MLA Lorne Doerkson who helped run the auction and Amanda Usher who set up the sound system. Clancy said that, as she has since the event was first organized, Donna Barnett did the live auction portion of the evening, selling several high-quality auction items.
Even the silent auction items went for prices higher than Clancy had ever seen before. He partly attributes this to the more expensive items that were donated this year.
“We were thinking donations were going to go down because we have been doing this for so many years but darn it all the people are so generous. They’re donating more than they were before and we really appreciate it because without the people helping us we would be nothing,” Clancy said. “It really makes us feel great we’ve done something to help kids.”
All told the Shriners made $66,000 from the evening, with $26,000 going to paying for putting on the event, especially the crab which was valued at around $50 a pound this year. The $40,000 they netted will go towards funding several of the Shriners’ programs.
Most important is their Shriners in the Community program which is a fund set aside for any children in the South Cariboo with mobility issues. Clancy said if their parents reach out to the Shriners for help they’ll help them by purchasing a new wheelchair, crutches or whatever else the child needs to improve their quality of life.
Another major program the auction funds is the Shriners Transportation Fund. For this fund, Clancy said a child in need of medical treatment they can’t receive locally will be flown out, along with a guardian, to one of 19 hospitals in North America for treatment.
“When they leave home and get everything done, regardless of how long it takes them or how many trips to get back home, it costs the family nothing,” Clancy explained. “We try to send most of our people to Montreal.”
Despite the success of the evening, Clancy remarked that the future of the event is in question. Putting it on each year takes a lot out of the club, which currently consists of only five members of which Clancy, at 82, is the second youngest of.
However, he said several community groups and members have encouraged them to keep the event going and offered to help out next year. If they do that and are able to get some new members Clancy said they’ll likely be able to run it again next year.
Anyone interested in joining the Shriners or helping out with the auction is invited to reach out to Clancy at 250-396-7185.