97/16 photo by Brent Braaten
Diane Fairservice from Westwood Mennonite Brethren Church shows some of the baked goods that will be available at their Fall Fair on Saturday.
97/16 staff
Orchard fresh apples, farmer sausage and a hearty bowl of borscht can once again be found at the Mennonite Fall Fair held Saturday at the Westwood Mennonite Brethren Church from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
There will be children's activities going on and home baking for purchase as well as the gala apples from the Okanagan, freshly-pressed apple cider, farmer sausage from Manitoba to take home, and garden fresh produce donated from all around Prince George. Also for purchase will be organic fair trade coffee from Level Ground.
For lunch that's available all day, people can have a bowl of borscht, farmer sausage on a bun, a choice of pie and a beverage for the full meal deal or mix and match.
"We raise money for Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) and they do humanitarian work in the Third World," Diane Fairservice, one of the organizers of the fall fair, said. "Most often those projects are sustainability projects. Most of the projects offer families seeds or animals to be able to help themselves, feed themselves and grow. You know it's the old 'teach a man to fish.' Families can be given goats or chickens so they can feed themselves and then sell some to get things they need."
One of the projects that will benefit from the fundraising efforts at the fall fair is called Shanti Nepal which works with those in poor and marginalized communities who need primary health care for the family, including women pre- and post- natal and their infants. Other aspects of the project includes income generation through training on how to create irrigation systems, food preservation and storage. Canada Foodgrains Bank will match the funds raised during the fall fair.
At the fair this year, Lynn Warkentin from Brandon, Manitoba will be doing a quilting demonstration. She creates a few quilts a year she donates to those in need and she'll be showing people what to do to contribute to a quilting project.
MCC also has a project where they send relief kits to those in refugee camps or those in need. Some kits are geared for infants and others are school kits for older children. There will be a display at the fair to showcase what is required to make up a kit at the main warehouse in Abbotsford from where they're shipped out and people can donate cash to the cause.
