Keweenaw Report Your Source for Local News and Sports
HOUGHTON, Michigan (December 20, 2017) – Earlier this month, the Keweenaw Chamber of Commerce, Keweenaw Young Professionals (KYP), Keweenaw Economic Development Alliance (KEDA) and The Continental Fire Company hosted the Keweenaw Holiday Hoopla, a collaborative holiday celebration and fundraiser.
For the third year, this event brought the community together to raise funds for the Baraga-Houghton- Keweenaw (BHK) Community Action Agency (CAA) Western UP Food Bank and skilled trades scholarships for local high school students.
Through event admission and a 50/50 raffle, a total of $1,000 was raised for the food bank this year which will allow them to purchase about 12,500 pounds of food for distribution locally. Over the past three years, the event has raised almost $5,000 for the food bank, providing over 62,000 pounds of food to our hungry neighbors.
“Every dollar counts at the food bank,” states Jerry Jackovac, former Director for the CAA. “This past Tuesday the CAA held their December food pantry distribution and handed out 31,169 pounds of food. That’s around 71 pounds of food for all 439 households that visited. And sometimes they host these more than once a month.”
Brian Donnelly, Board President for the Keweenaw Chamber of Commerce, explained, “We wanted to bring together our local businesses and community by hosting an event where they can relax, network and still help out two great causes: a local food bank and the high school skilled trades scholarship program.”
As part of the event, KEDA hosted its annual silent auction raising $5,558 for the skilled trades scholarship program. This program awards a $500 scholarship to a graduating senior from each school throughout the district that is pursuing a certificate, one year, or two year degree in the skilled trades.
“We owe a big thanks to our business community for their generosity in providing some great auction items this year,” said Jeff Ratcliffe, Executive Director of KEDA. “We also owe another big thank you to everyone that turned out for the Holiday Hoopla. Not only was their generosity appreciated, but they made it a great evening. The support and commitment by the businesses and community of the Keweenaw to our students pursuing a skilled trade is tremendous.”
In addition to the funds raised through the silent auction, River Valley Bank generously donated $2,000 towards the skilled trades scholarships, which will provide a total of $7,500 in skilled trades scholarships for seniors graduating in 2018.
“It seems like every year there’s a snow storm during our holiday event, but what I love is that the weather doesn’t stop our community members from attending and supporting each other,” said Devin Leonarduzzi, President of Keweenaw Young Professionals. “The atmosphere, food, and service at The Continental Fire Company was excellent—we’re grateful they’ve reserved their space for us each year.”
The BHK Community Action Agency was established in 1965, and is a locally operated, private nonprofit corporation designed to develop, administer, and carry out programs that have a direct impact on the causes and instances of poverty.
Currently, the food pantry program has around 1,221 eligible households with 2,170 members enrolled, which is a slight drop in numbers from last year. They continue to serve around 500 households each time they host a pick up and last year their total food distribution of all their programs through the three county area was 840,110 pounds of food. You can find more information at www.bhkcaa.org or follow them on Facebook at @bhkcaa.
