VFW bazaar raises money for outreach efforts
<p>Vendor Pat McDougal purchases her lunch from Meralise Nass at the VFW bazaar on Saturday in Plains. Monday raised helped fund the organization cancer effort and general fund.</p>
PLAINS – The VFW of Plains hosted a bazaar Saturday to raise money for projects put on by their organization.
Women’s auxiliary treasurer Meralise Nass was in charge of collecting money for the booths and lunch served by the VFW.
“This is our first bazaar in years,” Nass said. “People come in and sell their knick knacks, crafts, and other things. Most of the items are handmade by the people selling the items.”
The day started off slow for the sellers who hoped business would pick up as the day progressed.
“This morning when we started, nobody was here,” seller Wilda Haggard said. “I was even fifteen minutes late setting up but it didn’t matter.”
The women’s auxiliary hosted an annual bazaar for years according to Nass but had stopped in recent years due to conflicts with other organizations in the area hosting events at the same time.
“Our bazaar used to be the first part of November,” Nass said. “But so much stuff started happening with other groups we kind of let ours die out.”
The slow morning may have been a result of the opening of hunting season. Some of the sellers were not surprised or upset about how few people were coming through.
“Usually I just give my jelly away,” Haggard said. “I thought I might as well try to sell some. I usually just ask for the jars back, but I’ve been running out of jars, so I needed money to replace them.”
The VFW is always working on projects to help citizens and veterans of Sanders County. The VFW’s winter project is just around the corner and they are hoping for a nice turn out this year.
The group is using the money in the general fund to pay for the postage for their Christmas care packages to troops. Last year the VFW sent 51 packages to soldiers in December.
“It was our biggest year last year,” Nass said. “We don’t just help soldiers overseas but we help those at home too. They are away from their families and need the sorts of things we have on our list.”
Items on the soldier’s list included magazines, books, beef jerky, non-perishable foods, and games. Nass said she hoped to get the list out to stores and begin the drive for soldiers immediately.
In addition to items on the list, Nass said local students write letters thanking the soldiers and color pictures to send to them.
“We hope to get the student’s materials back by November 27,” Nass said. “We will send the packages out after Thanksgiving. Some take two or three weeks to deliver and others longer. The hope is they get them by Christmas.”
Nass, a 35-year member of the VFW enjoyed her time at the bazaar.
“I get to sit here and collect the money while Nora gets to cook the food,” Nass said. “I can’t stand like I used to, so I help out anyway I can.”
Lending a helping hand to veterans and their families is the core value of the VFW. Everyone who took part in the bazaar helped out a veteran in some way.