The Rural Voice, 2004-12, Page 17back to see if they could get more."
There are two dimensions to the
program, Ritsma explains. Though
farmers are donating their cows and
Becker is picking up the trucking
costs himself, there's still the 1
expense of killing and butchering the
cattle and turning the meat into
hamburger. Even with very generous
rates from the abattoirs involved, it
still amounts to up to $250 per
animal.
The money for this part of the
operation comes from donations from
individuals and service groups that
cover the processing costs.
"People are so generous in our
area," Ritsma says. "We're over
$22,000 in donations. Just the other
day I received a cheque from the
Knights of Columbus from Stratford
for $500, which will cover two
animals."
"It continues to be our challenge
to let people know that if you're
looking at making a donation, we're
able to give a receipt," Ritsma says.
The program has been able to
make use of the generous offer of the
Monkton Girls' Club to handle all
donations and receipt giving. (Julie
Emond, a farmer who was donating a
cow and also was a member of the
club, brought the two together.)
n fact the Donate A Cow program
is a pretty lean organization. The
pair handle no money themselves.
They collect the cows and deliver
them to the appropriate butcher and
the bill is paid by the Girls' Club.
"That's worked well," says Ritsma.
"People know that the money is
being handled by a reputable
charitable organization."
Public support was immediate
when the story broke in a Stratford
newspaper about the plans for the
program, says Becker. "You'd have
residents in Stratford calling up and
wanting to know what it was all
about, then promising to send a
cheque for $250. Service clubs and
doctors and lawyers — they'd hear
about it and think it was a good
thing."
A church congregation in Baden
set out a penny -jar for parishioners
every week and sent along a cheque
for more than $800.
Not that the money required
always matched the money received.
"We did have one time we ran in the
hole by quite a bit," Becker says,
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